Local Elections Underway – Microphone Grabs Are On

By John Freer

So, the local council election campaigns are underway – a couple of pleasing aspects being the number of candidates standing locally, and the fact more than 160 people turned out to the Whitianga Residents and Ratepayers Association’s inaugural mayoral candidate event.

All six mayoral contenders fronted, we had a former mayor in Glenn Leach as the moderator, and CFM was there to live stream the event and provide the sound system.

Were there winners and losers when it came to the arguments and question time responses – well that depends on what constitutes a win or a loss.

James Subritzsky got some support after telling the audience he had to wing it as his car had broken down enroute to the event and after walking a distance, he realised he had left his notebook in the vehicle.

Maybe some compassion for current Mayor Len Salt, who turned up in his wheelchair which had also featured in a recent social media post announcing this campaign. He told the audience one more surgery was required for a back issue, but his brain was still functioning well.

Denise Messiter got the attention of the audience early when referring to the scribble on her face, as described by Winston Peters, referring to her moko. Denise did attract the biggest applause at the end of her 10 minutes.

From Whangamata, Patrick Kerr labelled the current council as dysfunctional without elaborating on this also outlining what he saw as potential future rate hikes.

Cr Peter Revell drew the pleasure of being the first cab off the rank but only after local ward candidate and WRRA member Flemming Rasmussem, spent 10 minutes laying out the rules and how people should behave – actually getting the award for being the person who said the most during the afternoon.

For Cr Revell, he invited everyone to the Monkey House on Friday afternoon to hear his policy statement reminding those present he was the most qualified of the candidates.

Back for another crack at the role is Steve Hart – he had changed from three years ago, he was not wearing his Steve Hart for Mayor sweatshirt which featured at every rally in 2022 – his message had not changed with his 28-page policy document.

Question time became a shambles – this being the description used by a former mayoral candidate sitting at the back of the Mercury Bay Hall.

Some alleged freelance investigative journalist from Nelson attempted to hijack proceedings – and when asked later who he submitted to, he said websites but then confessed he didn’t currently have one.

As the candidates looked to grab any opportunity to be heard – Patrick Kerr won this race, WRRA chairman Tony Fox stepped up in an attempt to keep order, while Glenn attempted to ensure the questions were actually questions.

The key subject being three years of rate increases by over 30 percent, the need to ensure infrastructure provision to meet the needs of the community and its visitors, rubbish collections, economic development, Māori ward representation, honesty and openess and community empowerment.

One interesting observation near the end when those present were asked to put their hands up if over 50 years of age – that would have been 80 percent of the audience. So then came the question – what will the candidates be doing for aged care provision into the future.

Maybe that will come at the next meeting – we have three months of this.