When Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby returns to council to decide his deputy and committee chair people he will for the first time be exercising powers intended to give mayors a greater ability to lead.

The re-elected city mayor is planning one-on-one meetings with the newly elected councillors, seven of which are serving a first term, this Thursday and Friday, which will be followed by an additional two days next week.

TCC Mayor Stuart Crosby is looking forward to working with a new council.

Stuart told SunLive that this week is about getting to know the councillors, their hopes, dreams and ambitions for the next three years, and for the city.

Next week's meetings are to develop some themes for the new triennium and discuss committee structure, including the possible establishment of a new Audit and Risk Committee.

'I was definitely looking for a change particularly in areas having a stronger focus on council finances,” says Stuart.

'I still intend to put that on the table for the new elected members. As debt was a key election issue I suspect that will find favour.

'That's a conversation we intend to have with all the elected members before I make any recommendations because there are so many new people there and some new talent as well I might add.

'My job is to corral all that, and my style will remain; ‘it's not about me, it's about the group' and frankly at long last I think I will be able to build a team, and not have a group of individuals.”

Stuart's given TCC CEO Garry Poole notice he intends to use the new discretionary powers, which Stuart believes the Government changed to give mayors more ability to demonstrate leadership, and be more accountable.

'And I fully support that. I do intend to exercise them but there is a catch in it. At the end of the day you have still got to get the majority of the elected members of the day to support you.”

He will make proposals for the committee structure, and will lead the budget and key initiatives - and take responsibility for that. But he will still need a majority of elected members to support that direction.

'So I won't do it on my own. I will do it in consultation with them all.”

Accountability, apart from the three yearly elections, is part of a culture of accountability and responsibility a council builds up, says Stuart.

'When things go wrong as they do in our business, I'm the one who will front up,” says Stuart.

'I will be the one who faces the community. Not the Chief Executive or the staff. It will be me. And I have always done that; the floods, the GFC, the Rena. To me that's really important.”

Stuart's first intuition on the new council is that he believes they will want to be part of a team, and accept collective responsibility for decisions.

'What that means is once the decision is made, whether you agree with it or not, you don't set to undermine it,” says Stuart.

'The last nine years of my mayoralty, I've had certain people in the councils if they didn't agree with a decision they would then set out to undermine it. And talking to them already, I don't think that will happen.

'I am really excited. There are some seriously talented people in this new group, and some seriously passionate people, and some seriously committed people and enthusiastic people.

'There are three young ones which is really, neat - good for our future. Clayton, Steve and young Matt, who I think is the baby of the group. Two new ladies, with some very good skills and experience - and some seriously motivated and intelligent people in the whole group.

'To me it is a huge step up in governance and we need to take advantage of that. The community has demanded change through this election, that is obvious, and change must happen.

'But in saying all that I would expect open frank and robust debate. But once the decision made, that's it; and we all move forward.”

Tauranga City Council is well placed to move forward, says Stuart. There's a new CEO, and quite a new management team, and effectively, a whole new council.

New councillors will be sworn in at the council's inaugural meeting on October 30, before the first meeting of council on November 19.