A senior city councillor is calling for a major overhaul of council meetings, saying the current set-up disadvantages young parents.

Hamilton City Council records obtained under the Official Information Act show a significant difference in elected members' attendance at council meetings this term.

In some cases, councillors have struggled to fully attend two-thirds of scheduled meetings during the past three years.

MARK TAYLOR/FAIRFAX NZ Hamilton City Council's records show a big difference in elected members' attendance at meetings during this term.

Elected members' poor attendance records have been highlighted by council candidates this election campaign.

Candidates Mano Manoharan, Siggi Henry and Geoff Taylor have all vowed to attend 100 per cent of council meetings if elected.

But veteran Councillor Martin Gallagher said the council's preference to hold meetings during the late evening is "crazy" and unfair to elected members with young children.

Gallagher has been lobbying council chief executive Richard Briggs and mayoral candidates, asking them to consider a shift to morning meetings.

The council's full meetings as well as its finance committee and strategy and policy committee meetings start at 1.30pm and can continue past 8pm.

"We've got into a crazy situation where I think we're making decisions when people are tired and grumpy at six, seven, eight o'clock at night and that's bad decision-making," Gallagher said.

"There needs to be a whole shake-up with how we do our business. I hear a lot of talk about the rights of women and young parents, but I think it's grossly unfair that [Councillor] Karina Green has copped all this flak when we have these meetings late at night."

Green, who has a young family, has the worst attendance rate at ordinary council meetings, fully attending 65 per cent of fixtures during this term.

Mayor Julie Hardaker​ and Councillor Leo Tooman​ had a 100 per cent full attendance record at ordinary council meetings, followed by Garry Mallett (98 per cent) and Philip Yeung​ (96 per cent).

Outgoing Deputy Mayor Gordon Chesterman said some elected members treat the role of councillor as a part-time job despite pocketing upwards of $70,000 a year.

If people can't commit to attending all council meetings, they shouldn't put their name forward for the job, he said.

"If start times were changed to 9am and meetings carried through to 5pm, councillors with young children still have to arrange for someone to pick their kids up from school, so nothing changes," Chesterman said.

"A councillor gets paid at least $70,000 a year and many people in Hamilton don't earn that much. If a councillor has young children, then they're earning enough money to arrange for care and for someone to pick up their kids from school. If they don't attend important meetings, or keep leaving early, then how can they do their job properly?"

Chesterman said some elected members' absence at ceremonial functions and community events was "disgusting" and challenged the next crop of elected members to be visible in the community.

"As far as I am concerned, councillors' attendance at events such as the Anzac Day civic parade, the Civic Awards ceremony and the Volunteering Waikato Awards event should be an absolute priority."

Retiring Councillor Ewan Wilson said Chesterman liked to remind people of his "excellent attendance" at ceremonial events, but that was reflected in the pay packet of the deputy mayor.

Wilson said the role of a councillor is a part-time job and believes a pledge to attend 100 percent of council meetings would be hard to fulfil.

"I just keep reminding Gordie that three terms ago, he was balancing the role of a councillor while being involved in the DHB, Wintec and working as a PR consultant.

"I attended 70-odd per cent of meetings during a period when I had two bouts of cancer."

Meanwhile, council records show a major difference in elected members' involvement in council working groups, hearing panels and ad hoc subcommittees during the past three years, with Hardaker, Gallagher, Angela O'Leary, Rob Pascoe, Yeung, and Tooman registering the biggest workload.

O'Leary said such groups are where the real work of council takes place and involves hundreds of hours of commitment.

"These working groups represent a phenomenal amount of work and there seems to be a small group of elected members that are constantly putting up their hands for this and there are others who do none."

Yeung said as a first-term councillor, he wanted to be involved in as many working groups as possible to help him get a better understanding of issues.

However, elected members' involvement with such groups should be voluntary, he said.

"Some people don't put their hands up for personal reasons and I don't want to comment on that," Yeung said.

Tooman said one of his goals this term is to achieve a 100 per cent attendance record.

His involvement in council working groups has been invaluable for helping him get up to speed with council business.

"If the community asks me to represent them, then you've got to be there for them and get involved," Tooman said.