Does the Central Hawke's Bay District Council begin its meetings with a prayer?

Alex Harris made this Official Information request to Central Hawke's Bay District Council

The request was successful.

From: Alex Harris

Dear Central Hawke's Bay District Council,

As you may have read recently, the Whanganui District Council abolished its opening prayer after a complaint was made to the Human Rights Commission. I'm interested in learning how widespread this practice is, so I'd like to request the following information under the LGOIMA:

* Does the Council open its meetings with a prayer? * If the answer to the above is "yes", then I'd like a copy of that prayer (or examples, if more than one is used), when the practice was first established, whether the council has considered abolishing it in the wake of the Whanganui decision, and any advice the council may hold on the prayer's compatibility with both the Human Rights Act 1993 and Bill of Rights Act 1990.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the fyi.org.nz website.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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From: Richard Thomas
Central Hawke's Bay District Council

I have forwarded your email to our CE, John Freeman, and to his PA, Heather Kitson.

Regards
Richard

--
Richard Thomas
IT Manager
Central Hawke’s Bay District Council
ddi: 06 857 7722
mobile: 027 488 0017
web: http://www.chbdc.govt.nz

-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Harris [mailto:[FYI contact email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 10 April 2012 11:56 a.m.
To: info
Subject: Local Government Official Information and Meetings request: Does the Central Hawke's Bay District Council begin its meetings with a prayer?

Dear Central Hawke's Bay District Council,

As you may have read recently, the Whanganui District Council
abolished its opening prayer after a complaint was made to the
Human Rights Commission. I'm interested in learning how widespread
this practice is, so I'd like to request the following information
under the LGOIMA:

* Does the Council open its meetings with a prayer? * If the answer
to the above is "yes", then I'd like a copy of that prayer (or
examples, if more than one is used), when the practice was first
established, whether the council has considered abolishing it in
the wake of the Whanganui decision, and any advice the council may
hold on the prayer's compatibility with both the Human Rights Act
1993 and Bill of Rights Act 1990.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about
this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the
fyi.org.nz website.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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From: FYI Requests


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Good afternoon Alex,

Yes CHBDC has a prayer (see Attached) we started using this prayer when
the council was established in 1989,

No we have not considered abolishing it.

No we have not had any legal advice on the prayers compatibility with
any act.

At the beginning of each meeting the prayer helps remind us all of what
we are here for.

Regards john f

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