Kia ora Jim,

 

On 20 June 2024, you requested the following information, under the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA):

 

Can you confirm that Mayor Phil Mauger attended the Local Government New
Zealand Infrastructure Symposium on Friday June 14, 2024 in Wellington?

Who else was in attendance from the Christchurch City Council at the
Symposium?

What process was used by the Council to decide who would attend (or not)
on behalf of the Council?

Which other elected members, if any, attended from the Council? Why and
how were they invited?

How much did it cost to send any elected members from the Council to
Wellington? How long did they stay at the event?

Please also provide all emails, messages, SMS, and other communications
between the Mayor and any elected members who attended regarding the
Symposium between 1 April 2024 and 20 June 2024.

 

We can confirm that Mayor Phil Mauger did attend the Local Government New
Zealand Infrastructure Symposium in Wellington on Friday 14 June 2024. It
is common practice for the mayor to represent the Council at events such
as this.

 

No other Councillors or staff from Christchurch City Council attended. One
community board member attended but they did so through personal funding
and not through their role as a community board member. No funding from
Council was used or sought from any board member, councillor, or staff
member to attend.

 

The Mayor and Councillors received invitations to join the Symposium via
email from LGNZ (a copy of this email is attached). After this initial
invitation there were updates sent, and it was mentioned in regular LGNZ
newsletters as well as the Chair’s email.

 

Regarding costs, the mayor’s flights and accommodation totalled $777.76.
There was no cost for the Symposium events. He attended the Thursday 13
June opening event featuring Minister Chris Bishop and the full
Infrastructure Symposium on Friday 14 June 2024.

 

As no other elected members attended on behalf of council there was no
email, message, SMS, or other communications between the mayor and other
elected members in attendance. Therefore, we will be declining this part
of the LGOIMA under the following section of the LGOIMA:

o 17(e) – the information requested does not exist or cannot be found

 

You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to investigate and review our
decision. Complaints can be sent by email to
[1][email address].

 

Publication of responses to LGOIMA requests

Please note: our LGOIMA responses may be published on the Christchurch
City Council website a month after they have been responded to, with
requesters’ personal details withheld. If you have any concerns about
this, please contact the Official Information team on
[2][Christchurch City Council request email].

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sean Rainey
Manager Official Information and Privacy Officer
Official Information Team

Office of the Mayor and Chief Executive

 

 

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Kia ora Jim,

 

The community board member who attended was Ali Jones from Waipapa
Papanui-Innes-Central board.

 

Ms Jones saw the symposium advertised on the LGNZ website, filled in the
online form and received confirmation back. She has confirmed that she was
not directly invited. To the best of her knowledge no attendees were
invited, and the symposium was open to anyone who registered.

 

While no funding was provided by Christchurch City Council, she has
expressed that she attended “because local and central infrastructure -
particularly the procurement process and coatings - are of interest to me
in my role as an elected member”.

 

Ms Jones attended in a personal capacity.

 

Thank you,

 

Jess Griffin
Information Coordinator
Official Information

 

 

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