Editorial - Tuesday October 15, 2013

Peter Jackson, editor, The Northland Age

THE local body elections that were completed on Saturday were something of an entree for the Far North. Now attention will turn to the big one, the decision regarding the district's local government structure for the next generation or more. But whether the election results offer an inkling of how the Far North might be thinking on that subject remains to be seen.

If Wayne Brown was right, and the mayoral election was effectively a referendum on the unitary authority issue, then the Far North would seem to favour the status quo. Mr Brown was unceremoniously dumped in favour of a candidate who insisted that he would oppose a structure that was dominated by Whangarei, as did Mr Brown, and would do all he could to see that the district was in a position to make an informed choice between a Local Government Commission proposal and the status quo.

It is unlikely, however, that many votes were cast with that in mind. The writer's perception is that the unitary authority issue did not loom large in many people's minds before the polls closed on Saturday. What did loom large was a widespread dissatisfaction with the council, which over the last three years has increasingly taken the stance that it knows what is good for the people it serves. It was a little surprising, therefore, that only two incumbents lost their seats.

The odds of Mr Brown winning a third term, after trouncing his three-term predecessor Yvonne Sharp in 2007 then surviving, with room to spare, challenges led by Sir John Goulter in 2010, were always long, although he ran a good campaign. The surprise there perhaps was that Mr Carter's majority was so substantial.

Mr Brown may have been undone by his self-confessed lack of ability when it came to pressing the flesh, long a key contributor to electoral success. He did have six years of achievements to point to, but in the end they did not outweigh the attractions of a consummate politician, with experience and friends in Wellington to boot, although, without doubt, Mr Brown's abrasive style also cost him support. Issues over his rates bill and development contributions, mining and a 'fairer' rating system may also have cost him votes, but he deserves acknowledgement for what he has given the Far North over the last six years.

When he won so convincingly in 2007 he was widely regarded as a breath of fresh air. And he was. Qualities including an abhorrence of red tape and pointless process won him many friends, and produced immediate improvements in the way in which the council functioned and was perceived. Those same qualities might also have been his undoing, however; pointless process wastes time and money, but voters who come to believe that they are being disenfranchised will look elsewhere. There was also a perception in Te Hiku at least that some councillors were less than independent in thought and deed.

Mr Brown's passion for the Far North and the vision he took to the council chambers were beyond question, but perceptions of vested interests dogged him for much of his six years, not always fairly. The Far North is a small pool, and it would be hard to find a Mayor or councillor who did not have some personal interest in the decisions that are made on a daily basis, and the council's long-term outlook. That's just the way things are. And, unlike many, Mr Brown never had difficulty seeing the big picture. Hopefully the council will continue to do that without him, but it also needs to pay more attention to detail than has always been the case over the last three years in particular. And it needs to get its staff and elected members working together. The undermining of elected members, including the Mayor, by disgruntled staff has to stop.

Competition for community board seats was even keener than that for places at the council table, thanks in part to the Look Up Te Hiku ticket, which, with one exception, made very little impact. Electoral tickets have never been the Far North's cup of tea, and when one is formed it should at least be accompanied by policies. Look Up Te Hiku didn't quite get that far; at best its candidates, while clearly well-meaning and sincere, displayed little appreciation of what community boards can and cannot do, and at worst its sole successful contender, who won a seat on Te Hiku Community Board, told a public meeting that if two or three of them were successful they would put their heads together and come up with some ideas. One would have thought those ideas would have preceded the arrival of the voting papers.

In fact the entire community board campaign, for want of a better word, was disappointing. The quantity of candidates did not entirely translate into quality, and while everyone who put their hands up should be acknowledged for having the gumption to do so, there weren't a lot of ideas for voters to mull over. The ideas that were offered tended towards the likes of tackling unemployment, not something any community board, with the best will in the world, can expect to make much of a contribution to.

Perhaps community boards are seen as irrelevant. It would be a pity if they are, for they are the very frontline of local government. None of the last three mayors have done anything to empower them, but hopefully that will change now.

Having said that, some community board members have done sterling work for their electors over the last three years, three of them, Willy van der Sluis (North Cape), Yvonne Smith (Kaitaia) and Clara Lugnet (Doubtless Bay), being rewarded with redundancy.

Change is a good thing, but hopefully those who have been returned to community boards, including Te Hiku's three newcomers, will show equal enthusiasm for addressing the very local issues that were the forte of Lugnet, Smith and van der Sluis.

Meanwhile Dennis Bowman showed once again that there is still a place in local government for the pre-digital approach. The former district councillor who gave up the chairmanship of Te Hiku Community Board for a shot at the Northland Regional Council beat two very able opponents, the passionate Mike Finlayson and energetic incumbent Bronwyn Hunt, and did it with ease.

He is now part of what should prove to be a very able northern set of councillors, alongside Joe Carr, Bill Shepherd and Dover Samuels. All four have a record of standing by their principles, perhaps the best quality any politician can have.

And finally, good luck to John Carter. As has been the case with incoming governments over the years, he can't be sure what he will find when he arrives in Kaikohe, but even if there are no surprises there is work for him and his councillors to do. He has what should prove to be an able council to lead, thanks in no small part to the addition of Dave Collard, Tania McInnes and Willow-Jean Prime.

Mr Carter has drawn up a priority list that includes sewerage, Kaitaia's water supply, council finances and road maintenance, and there will be more to add to that, including the prospect of restructuring. Good luck to them all. They have not chosen the easiest means of serving their community, but if they pursue the best interests of the Far North with skill and passion it will be most rewarding, for them and for us.