Observing the hustings in action is a cross between a third-grade rugby scrum and a beauty competition. The well-run Grey Power meeting last week became very boring – due to the repetition of the candidates going over common ground. Those with current experience as a mayor or councillor clearly had better facts at hand and this showed through very well during the subsequent question period.
Grey Power Meet the Candidates. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
That said, one current councillor threw away more than a bucketful of votes by leaving the meeting early without giving a reason. Another candidate, the current community board chair, immediately showed her grit, political nous and experience by (twice) declaring that she was there for the whole afternoon. One mayoral candidate jettisoned more than a modicum of support by droning on about her large family across two generations when she should have been using precious time clarifying what she was going to do to turn around the financial and communication woes of the council.
One Māori candidate did not front and there was a notable absence from a current regional council councillor.
Key items that did not surface during the prepared speeches were the regional council’s stupidity over a double vote on their Local Government New Zealand membership and a complete lack of any mention of the town’s hot potato – the third bridge. The latter, however, should surface more formally during the forthcoming work of the Cambridge Connections entity, but anyone who wants to produce a worthwhile debate still has time to put their foot into the fire.
Mayoral candidate Mike Pettit speaks watched by Clare St Pierre and Susan O’Regan at the Grey Power Meet the Candidates meeting. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
The mayor made it clear that 20 to 30 council staff will transfer to the water entity, taking with them more than $230 million of (currently) council debt to their new group. This will improve the balance sheet of the council but will still come back to haunt the customers of the Water Done Well body when it sets its water rates. Ratepayers should not feel too comfortable for several years.
The devil in me ranked the presenters on a ‘scale of t10’ during their formal presentations where a minimal score of eight indicated a worthwhile aspirant. Two mayoral candidates scored 8.5 – the third did not make the minimum for consideration. Of the Waipa council candidates one – a very tall gentleman – came out well ahead at the top while another sitting councillor did not meet the threshold. The sitting regional councillor clearly had a good grip on the role and was well pursued (politically) by a well-known lady aspirant.
These are early days. There are a host of meetings yet to come – the next major one taking place at the town hall today. Voting papers will be in your mailboxes by next week and voting can commence.
At the risk of being repetitively boring – your vote counts. Absolutely. There are a host of issues about which many of you find fault yet are not prepared to use your democratic right to put the right people in place at the public tables. These mainly earnest and honest people will never receive sufficient emolument to balance the huge amount of time that election to office will demand of them. Please recognise that by giving them a clear indication of your wishes.
Peter Carr, fourth row, second right, at the Grey Power Meet the Candidates
