It is a one-year programme for young adults to gain work experience and industry-related training, and to contribute to building a better Auckland.
This year council recruited 25 cadets in their October 2015 intake with a further five due to join in November.
The cadets week-long induction include visiting council facilities such as Central Library, Town Hall and Tepid Baths.
One of their stops included visiting the Waitematā Local Board office to hear more about what Local Boards do and how the shared governance structure works.
Chair Shale Chambers explained how, along with the creation of the Super City in 2009, came a two-part decision-making process through the Governing Body:
- the Mayor and 20 councillors making regional decisions, and
- twenty-one local boards with elected members making decisions on local issues, activities and facilities.
The Waitematā Local Board stressed the important role of local board members by each explaining the portfolios that they cover, the BID (Business Improvement District) they are connected to and the jobs that they hold ‘in real time’.
Some cadets expressed surprise that the seven board members before them represented 77,000 people, 45% of BID income and 30% of Auckland’s business activity.
After a morning of workshops the board members seemed pleased to have an opportunity to talk to the cadets in a more informal manner, a slide show of photos played in the background and morning tea waited for the cadets on the way out. A cadet working in Operations Support for Community Development, Arts and Culture even expressed an interest in standing for Local Board with a question about “how does one get elected?”
For more information on the Cadet Programme visit the careers website here
For more information on Local Boards visit the council website here
