Editorial: Self-delusion among council hopefuls

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle.

By Mark Dawson, Editor

NOMINATIONS opened on Friday for the 2016 local body elections which will be held in October, and the runners and riders are already jockeying for position.

So far, four people have indicated they will be bidding for the mayoral chains of office (one dropped out on Friday), with 11 new names seeking seats at the council table along with an anticipated nine current councillors hoping to be re-elected.

That's a fair amount of congestion, and it is still early days ...

It is good to see new faces putting their hands up, and councils usually benefit from an injection of fresh blood but one suspects a certain level of self-delusion among the wannabes.

Some of the mantras have a familiar ring.

Being "business-friendly" and creating jobs is a popular touchstone -- an easy soundbite to throw out, but a much harder thing to actually deliver.

Is the suggestion that our council has an agenda to oppose business and lose jobs?

Such a notion is scarcely credible.

Just how many businesses do these hopefuls expect to usher in should they earn a three-year term, and how many jobs are they going to create? And exactly how will they go about this?

Likewise, those who promise to minutely examine council expenditure and cut municipal spending along with our rates bills.

Long on slogans, short on detail; there is a naive ambition evident with some of those entering the campaign.

And there are those already at the council table who campaigned on pretty much those same platforms.

Nothing wrong with a dose of optimism, but somewhere it has to be anchored in reality.

Local government is a complex and exacting beast. And a costly one.

Those who think they can wave a magic wand need to think again.

They also need to make sure they have attended council meetings, acquainted themselves with the Local Government Act, read council reports fully and scrutinised a few agendas.

Prepare more, promise less ... that may be the way to make a worthy candidate.