Northland's three outgoing mayors - Jason Smith (Kaipara), John Carter (Far North) and Sheryl Mai (Whangārei). Photo / supplied
Northland's three outgoing mayors - Jason Smith (Kaipara), John Carter (Far North) and Sheryl Mai (Whangārei). Photo / supplied
With days to go before nominations close for this year's local body elections, 17 out of 63 council or community board positions remain empty so far in Northland.
As of Wednesday morning, nine seats were unfilled in the Far North, three in Kaipara, one in Whangārei, and four in the Northland Regional Council.
The region's gaps follow a national trend that has Local Government NZ (LGNZ) concerned roles will not be filled or go uncontested when nominations close on Friday.
LGNZ president Stuart Crosby said competition for seats was a "sign of a healthy democracy".
"There are several barriers to people wanting to stand for local government politics including pay, workload, and some of the ugly rhetoric directed at elected officials," he said.
Crosby encouraged more candidates to throw their hats in the ring to be a part of driving change within their areas, especially with the Future for Local Government review under way.
"If you know anyone who is community-minded, committed, future-focused and up for the challenge, a role in local government could be just the environment they would thrive in."
The Advocate has taken a look at how the region is tracking as the clock ticks down.
Just 28 people have put their hands up for council or community board roles in the Far North.
A week out from the 2019 elections, Far North democracy appeared to be in a similarly perilous position — but a last-minute rush of nominations ensured a wide field of candidates on election day, and a contest in all but a few community board seats.
As of Wednesday morning, six people had lodged nominations to replace the outgoing John Carter as mayor. Of those, four were current councillors and one was a serving community board member.
The nominations for mayor were Jaqi Brown, Ann Court, Joshua Riley, Kelly Stratford, Moko Tepania and John Vujcich.
Court (Waipapa), Stratford (Haruru), Tepania (Kaikohe) and Vujcich (Kaikohe) are sitting councillors while Brown (Ahipara) is a serving community board member. Riley (Paihia), one of seven Far North candidates standing on the Sovereign.nz ticket, is the only new face on the list.
Unless there's a last-minute rush of nominations some council and community board seats in the Far North could be left empty in the upcoming local body elections. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Some positions around the new-look council table, however, had attracted insufficient interest.
Only three nominations had been received for the four-seat Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori Ward, which is being introduced for the first time in this year's Far North District Council elections.
They were Moko Tepania, Nyze Manuel and Diane Rodgers. Tepania is a te reo teacher and current councillor, Manuel has a key role in volunteer group Taitokerau Border Control, and Rodgers is standing on the Sovereign.nz ticket.
The district's three community boards have 19 positions that need to be filled. As of Wednesday, eight community board seats — Kawakawa-Moerewa, Kerikeri (three positions), Waipapa, North Hokianga, Doubtless Bay and Whatuwhiwhi — still had no takers.
The council's three general wards — Bay of Islands-Whangaroa (three seats), Kaikohe-Hokianga (one) and Te Hiku (two) — all had at least one candidate per position.
Nineteen people are in the mix for council roles, with only 14 positions on offer – the mayor, and 13 councillors.
Council spokeswoman Ann Midson said by Tuesday afternoon they had received three nominations to replace outgoing Mayor Sheryl Mai, but couldn't say who until all nominations were in.
However, the Advocate understands that Whangārei District councillors Ken Couper and Vince Cocurullo are standing for mayor, as are newcomers Mike Budd, Brad Flower, Shaquille Shortland, and Fiona Green.
All of Whangārei's general wards had at least one candidate – some were even overflowing. Three nominations vied for two seats in the Hikurangi-Coastal general ward, seven people were standing for five positions in the Whangārei Urban general ward, and three had come forward to claim the two new district-wide Māori Ward seats.
On the flip side, the Bream Bay general ward had only received one nomination – leaving one position unaccounted for.
Kaipara
As of Wednesday, three names are in the ring to fill the shoes of Kaipara Mayor Jason Smith. Of them, only one - Victoria Del La Varis-Woodcock - is a current Kaipara District councillor.
She is in the running against Ash Nayyar, whose background is in commercial banking, and businessman Craig Jepson.
All three positions in the Kaiwaka-Mangawhai general ward had received nominations from Dennis Emsley, Jonathan Larsen, and Rachael Williams.
The same can be said for the sole Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori Ward position, hoping to be filled for the first time by nominee Paturiri Toautu.
Two positions in the Wairoa general ward – a merger of previous Dargaville and West Coast/Central wards -are outstanding, with Ash Nayyar the only nomination received thus far.
One of the two Otamatea general ward roles remains empty, with Mark Vincent currently the only nomination received.
Northland Regional Council
Interest appears to be sluggish, with four of the nine regional constituencies without any processed or accepted nominations.
One position is up for grabs in each of the general constituencies, which are the Far North, Bay of Islands-Whangaroa, Kaipara, Mid North, Coastal Central, Whangārei Central, Coastal South – except for two in Te Raki Māori Constituency.
As of Wednesday morning, five nominations had been received – three of which are current NRC councillors.
NRC spokesman Matt Johnson urged people not to lodge their nominations at the last minute. He said doing so left no time for things like technical issues to be resolved.
Nominations
Anyone keen to stand in the local body elections must be a New Zealand citizen and be on the Parliamentary Electoral Roll. They also have to be nominated by two people who are enrolled to vote in the area the candidate is standing in.
Nominations had to be completed in full and lodged by noon on Friday, with no exceptions given.
With nominations closing at noon on Friday, district administration manager Caroline Wilson urged would-be candidates not to leave it until the last minute.
