Editorial: Go on, help shape future

Voter apathy is a problem in the Bay of Plenty. A near empty hall greeted these candidates.

Why are we so slack?

For weeks now there has been plenty of publicity to drive more people to vote in this year's local-body elections but I fear it's not doing much good.

So far only 16 per cent have voted in the local elections.

While 7574 people seem to be nice and organised and have returned their voting papers already, the lack of returned forms is a bit of a worry.

The number of returned papers is only slightly higher than we got during the last elections three years ago - which ended with an appalling result of only 43 per cent of eligible locals voting.

Why is it we don't care about the future direction of our city?

There's a part of me which hopes the other 84 per cent of locals are doing what I'm doing - sitting on their voting papers and mulling it carefully.

I always think it's a little risky to fire off your picks straight away - what if there's a major scandal with one of the candidates you've picked and you've already posted your papers?

But in saying that, I know I for one will definitely vote - it won't get put in a drawer somewhere and forgotten about.

Can you say the same about the reason you haven't posted yours yet?

Rotorua is facing some pretty big challenges and it's important to get the right leaders in charge.

There's only one more week from today to post your votes. I strongly urge you to dig out the forms, make your choices and get them in the mail.

The future of our city needs a clear mandate.