KEY POINTS:
It is not until the voting papers turn up in the mail that most people give a thought to local elections, and many take no notice even then. The participation rate is much lower than for parliamentary elections despite the fact that local government affects far more of the necessities of daily life.
The reason for low interest may be that few candidates for council seats propose to do much more than provide the necessities. Read the material they provide and there will be precious little to separate them. All are for clean water, less-congested roads, better public transport, healthy communities, sustainable environments and no increase in rates.
With nothing of substance to distinguish them, voters must look for personal qualities such as experience both in local government and elsewhere, character - as far as that can be assessed from a picture and a potted biography - and name recognition. And if there are multiple seats to fill, geographic and gender balance can come into the selection criteria.
All of this produces solid, capable, fairly conservative local government. Even when left-wing tickets hold power, as they do currently on the Auckland Regional Council and the Auckland City Council, they do not dare promise to do much more than the basics.
The result is that our towns and cities, even our rural constructions, do not really do justice to our landscape. The natural beauty of New Zealand is not enhanced, as Switzerland is, and Sweden and similarly blessed landscapes, by the character of houses and towns. Those countries, more conscious of their heritage, perhaps accept more-restrictive design codes than countries like ours would tolerate. But we might be talked into it.
Auckland City Mayor Dick Hubbard made the preservation and enhancement of heritage buildings one of his aims in seeking office at the last election. He has not performed as impressively in this respect as he has in other ways, notably in keeping an open mind on the recent Dubai offer for Auckland Airport.
Mr Hubbard is in danger of losing the mayoralty this time on the evidence of the Herald-DigiPoll survey published at the weekend. If so, he will be the third incumbent in a row to be denied a second term but the first in memory to be defeated by the mayor he displaced last time.
John Banks' recovery is extraordinary and can only be explained by hard work at street level. He has hardly made an impression in hoardings and other media this time, apart from his regrettable promise to resist a council contribution to the upgrade of Eden Park for the rugby World Cup. He is, by all accounts, offering a quieter, less-abrasive style than he had when last in office, and it seems to be working.
Our polls elsewhere in the region suggest incumbent mayors are untroubled by challengers and Manukau seems likely to replace Sir Barry Curtis, who is retiring, with former long-serving councillor Len Brown, who ran him close last time.
But three weeks remain before the votes are counted, plenty of time for those who have not yet opened their envelope to study the material within it and make a decision.
National political leaders will be taking a keen interest in the polls and the final results because local body elections, coming a year before a general election, sometimes have been a harbinger of national change. That may explain Mr Banks' resurrection.
But these elections are not about national politics, they are about the issues and aspirations of cities, towns, rural districts and suburban communities. About rates, roads, trains, drains, housing quality, resource management, parks, libraries, community life. Let's vote for ideas, energy and commitment.
