I first stood for the mayoralty back in 1992. There were three of us vying for the title; Bob Francis and myself and a lady whose name I won’t mention because I have not sought her permission to do so. In the event more than 11,000 votes were cast and in round figures Bob got 6000, I got 4000 and the lady, who was a credible candidate, got 1000.
Twenty-one years later, when the town will have grown, though perhaps not as fast as we might have envisaged, there were just over 8000 votes cast in a similar three-way-contest featuring again two males and a female.
Interest in local body elections seems to have waned in the interim and you have to wonder why.
By all measures Lyn Paterson did well. She risked splitting her votes by standing for both the mayoralty and a seat on the council, but still beat the incumbent Mr Daniell, who has run a pretty steady ship over the last six years. Mr Daniel put all his eggs in one basket, standing for the mayoralty alone and will now have spare time to spend.
Gary Caffell polled well and will wonder if it might have been more prudent for him to have also stood for the mayoralty alone. He got 3600 votes for the urban ward; some of these may well have gone to him in a single mayoralty bid.
Surprisingly Mr Daniell also lost his seat on the Trust Lands Trust after a term spanning more than twenty five years. His claim that he was deprived of the mayoralty by the “women’s vote,” was not well received, but could also apply to his departure from the Lands Trust. His place will now be taken up by newcomer Sandy Ryan.
On the District Health Board two-term incumbent Viv Napier lost her seat meaning the South Wairarapa now has no elected representative on a board that is responsible for the health of the whole Wairarapa. Mrs Napier was an exceptionally effective board member and there were other excellent southern candidates. Among these were Greytown resident Paora Ammunson who was the initial chairman of the Wairarapa Primary Health Organisation and would have represented Maori well on a board that has a strong focus on improving Maori health and also new Martinborough resident Michael Lamont. Lamont is a physiotherapist by profession and is currently the CEO of the Mangere Community Health Trust in Auckland.
This lack of South Wairarapa representation doesn’t bode well for the potential combining of the three district councils. Those communities south of Carterton who already run their affairs extremely efficiently may find their influence on a combined Wairarapa Council easily compromised.
The Licensing Trust gained two members of the fairer sex after the last one, Josephine Maxwell, left the stage in 1989. Lucy Cruickshank and Mena Antonio will no doubt add a fresh perspective to the organisation, but in the process the Trust have lost the experienced and very capable Steve Blakemore. Craig Roberts, who took local body advertising to new heights, missed out after being highly critical of the Trust’s financial reporting.
That just leaves the Greater Wellington Regional Council where first termer Gary McPhee was re-elected. Three years ago McPhee stood on the platform that the Rimutaka summit toilets would be reinstated. They weren’t and after his success this time he is reported as saying that he is keen the see the Wairarapa become a unitary authority resulting in the regional council withdrawing its myriad of essential services to our neck of the woods and in the process causing him to lose his handsome stipend.
I think I’m now starting to get a handle on why so few people vote.
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I’m also starting to get a handle on why many women are reluctant to report a rape. The affair between the mayor of Auckland and his paramour was certainly not rape, but I’m surprised how the left-leaning press have come down so hard on the mistress in this case; though of course Len Brown is their darling.
Writing in the New Zealand Herald Kerre McIvor, in a rather vicious attack on Ms Chuang, said she was “no doe-eyed virgin and that it would probably be a good idea for her to give up blokes for a while and sit at home reading self-improvement books to increase her chances of finding a real boyfriend.”
Although Ms McIvor conceded Ms Chuang is single and can therefore sleep with whoever she chooses she went on to say that “she will be lucky to find a soft toy willing to share her bed with her in the future, far less a real live man.”
No support from the sisterhood then.
Don’t you just love local body politics?
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