Matthew Martin: Next mayor must have true vision for Rotorua

Next year's council election is shaping up to be an interesting one. Photo / File

Rotorua looks set for one of its more interesting and engaging council elections in recent years with at least four people so far signalling their intent to run for mayor of the district.

Judging the strengths and weaknesses of those candidates I will have to leave up to you, the voter, and there will be plenty of time and opportunity for you to engage with them.

But, it's not really about them, it's about you.

You, the residents of Rotorua are the ones who ultimately put those candidates into positions of power and as the saying goes - every vote counts.

So far we have heard from four people who want to be your mayor - the incumbent Steve Chadwick, Dr Reynold Macpherson, district councillor Rob Kent and 2013 mayoral challenger RangiMarie Robson (Bosma).

There will probably be others who want a tilt at the top job and no doubt we'll hear from them in the coming months.

Through my role at the Rotorua Daily Post I know the district's current mayor and past two mayors well enough to know the role is not an easy one.

There are the long hours, literally hundreds of meetings to attend, and angry ratepayers to contend with.

Rotorua's mayor - whether they like it or not - must have a good understanding of tikanga Maori, and most importantly, our iwi of Te Arawa.

That person must also be a diplomat, remain calm under pressure and present a friendly face to overseas guests, business people and work well with central government.

Some did it better than others, but mayors can't sit quietly behind the scenes letting council staff run the city for them.

You need to decide who the best person is to carry out that job.

Then there's the issue of electing councillors.

Just one standing councillor, Glenys Searancke, has signalled her intention not to run for re-election with the other 11 looking like they will be standing for just 10 seats.

This does depend on public feedback to the council's Your Choice 2016 Election Review which has, among other things, recommended the number of councillors be reduced from 12 to 10.

It also seems the former Rotorua Pro-Democracy Society - now known as Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers (RDRR) - will be putting forward a number of candidates to contest those council seats.

I'm too young to remember the last time an election here saw people standing under a "ticket".

But the RDRR will be putting forward candidates to try and unseat the current council.

But, they could find this difficult as it's not easy unseating councillors in Rotorua.

Rotorua voters also tend to re-elect their councillors and it seems the longer a councillor has been around the more certain they are to get re-elected.

However, there's one thing I'd like to see at the end of next October's elections and that's a much larger voter turnout.

Last election 43.44 per cent of the district's registered voters had their say, a marginal increase on the year before, but when you compare this to 60 per cent in 1989 and 1992, is pretty poor.

I often say to people that if they didn't vote they have no right to complain.

I know it's a long way off, but I'm looking forward to hearing from all of the candidates about why they think they can better represent our district.

I'll be basing my decision on how I think their experiences and qualifications can make Rotorua an even better place to live, not on how long they have been in council, what they look like, or what axe they want to grind.