Cr Calvert was the only nomination for the role of chairwoman at a council meeting yesterday. It was the same for new deputy chairman Kevin Malcolm.
Cr Calvert, from Dunedin, was the highest-polling candidate in the Dunedin constituency.
She thanked the councillors for putting their trust in her.
She said the council for the coming triennium was in good heart.
Customer satisfaction had improved, as had environmental indicators, which showed the work of the council in recent years was bearing fruit.
"However, a major challenge for us as an incoming council is to respond to our community in its core concern about the level of rates and, more significantly, the year-on-year increases.
"The community expects us to be careful with the money we demand from them. The work we are doing should be reasonably priced, reliable and cost-effective. It is time to refocus on value for money for our ratepayers."
A priority was to find ways to reduce the rates burden while maintaining the impetus of the region’s environmental journey, she said.
"The community has shown they are keen to to be involved. We need to work better with them to achieve results neither of us could achieve on their own."
When asked if she was going to mirror the policies of the Vision Otago political group she was a member of in the election, she said she was one voice among 12 and that there would be a variety of policies around the table.
All of the councillors would contribute.
She was proposing a flatter governance style with councillors being responsible for particular portfolios.
Each portfolio would have a lead and deputy.
Councillors would be expected to have an in-depth understanding on their portfolio areas and be the link between staff and councillors.
It was a work in progress, but would be a way to use the strengths of councillors, who would be able to update other councillors and the community, and committees would be fewer in number, Cr Calvert said.
The council had a wonderful opportunity with an additional councillor in the Dunstan constituency.
That area’s four councillors would allow the area to be better represented and concerns addressed, she said.
"After all, the majority of our rates are collected from Dunstan and more than half the rates are spent there. This new group will be able to rebalance the council and reduce its tendency to have a Dunedin focus."
The future was bright for the council, she said.
"We can be the best regional council in New Zealand. If those in Wellington have aspirations to legislate us out of existence, they will need to do so knowing how a great regional council can contribute to the political and legislative framework in New Zealand."
Everyone had to treat each other with respect and she had high expectations for behaviour, she said.
Cr Calvert was nominated by Cr Michael Laws, who also nominated Cr Malcolm, a Waitaki councillor entering his third term with the council.
Cr Malcolm said it would be more of the same from him.
It was an exciting time to be in Otago and be on the council.
The council had to be one total team, he said.
