AT LAST, we get the promise of a mayoral debate.
Well, perhaps 'debate' is possibly too strong a term. This isn't a Democrat versus Republican contest in the state of Ohio. But Masterton Rotary has stepped up to provide a 'meet the candidates' platform for the three Masterton mayoral candidates and three regional council candidates to speak to the public on their issues and policies.
Which would be good for Masterton, because right now most of the energy seems to be contained down in South Wairarapa. The proposed land swap for the purposes of creating a supermarket and potential town square in Featherston has sparked some decent argument. I've even seen our first actual press release, from a candidate in Greytown. He was ranting at me about my policy of not having politicking in letters to the editor, but he assures me it's a press release. At least there's some passion down south.
It seems to me that either candidates are feeling self-assured about being re-elected, at a loss to come up with anything to debate, or are too shy to put themselves out there.
We did ask for issues in our round of questions, and we are working on stories that reflect those. But I hope that series of questions didn't exhaust the candidates. The Midweek paper will be asking questions of candidates shortly, and those answers end up in most people's mailboxes.
