Inundated with phone calls, messages of congratulations is how Kitea Tipuna best described week one as chief executive of Wairoa District Council.
"Kanohi ki te kanohi, tika, pono and aroha. I hold these values strongly and, when these are the foundation stones of your engagement approach, I think the necessary conversations are pretty genuine. One thing I can say is that I won't be hiding behind a keyboard."
"It's been an absolute privilege and honour to receive all the positive feedback from my community regarding my appointment as chief executive, especially for my whānau. There is a lot of work in front of us, and I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work with the mayor, our elected members and staff," Tipuna said.
Kitea, who is known by locals as 'Lucky' says his appointment wasn't pure luck because the Wairoa District Council had received 14 applications for the position, Kitea said local knowledge and understanding the needs of Wairoa played a key part in his appointment.
Unique Wairoa perspective
"I don’t shy away from hard work. Being the first local to be appointed to the role of chief executive allows me to bring to bear a unique Wairoa perspective, a deep understanding of the rhythm of Wairoa and her people and the way we do things in Wairoa. This approach transcends ethnicity - it is a uniquely Wairoa perspective and way of doing things."
"Other than my experience and qualifications, I’ll bring a community-focused and service-led approach to my work. That’s the beauty of Wairoa. We appreciate the ability to genuinely serve our people and our community. Fronting up to have the korero and being really honest about that, be that local, regional or national. Really representing and advocating for Wairoa and her people, essentially my people and my community."
"Kanohi ki te kanohi, tika, pono and aroha. I hold these values strongly and when these are the foundation stones of your engagement approach, I think the conversations that are necessary are pretty genuine. One thing I can say is that I won't be hiding behind a keyboard."
Getting down to business
"The government’s reforms programme poses an interesting challenge for local government and councils. Ensuring we take all our communities on the journey with us and allowing them to guide us will be key. It’s quite a complex set of reforms and we need to make sure our communities, our whanau, really understand what these reform programmes mean and this will be key to the success of the reforms programme."
"Our communities have the solutions. I’m a strong advocate for community-led solutions that are Government enabled."
"Like other councils around the country, my priority for the next couple of weeks is getting our Long Term Plan (LTP) across the line. These have to be finalised and approved by the end of June and my immediate goal in the next few weeks is to get our LTP approved and finalised before the June 30 deadline."