Editorial: Time to end this prayer debacle

It's time for the debacle surrounding the issue of Wanganui District Council's prayer to come to an end.
Not to belittle the subject at hand, but there can be little doubt that there are more important things for our elected representatives to be working on.
The issue surrounding the prayer councillors say before each meeting was raised by Wanganui Mayor Annette Main in April - she noted that Councillor Clive Solomon objected to it, and that she wanted councillors to vote at a later date on whether or not to make changes to it.
Mr Solomon later made his thoughts on the prayer perfectly clear by walking out on a full council meeting after the prayer was recited twice.
Since then, a complaint has been made to the Human Rights Commission, and mediation has been held between the council and the complainant, believed to be Mr Solomon.
Now, mediation has failed to reach a resolution, and Wanganui District councillors are set to meet in order to try to bring the issue to an end.
Enough really is enough.
The whole sorry episode has taken on something of a surreal feel, slowly growing as an obstacle to the work councillors are elected to get on with, while showing no sign of reaching a satisfactory outcome.
In fairness, Ms Main appears to done her best to achieve a compromise solution.
But the time has now come for decisive action from the mayor. That's what leaders do.
The longer the issue drags on, the more chance there is of further diversions like Councillor Nicki Higgie's concerns that councillors had not been kept informed about negotiations between Ms Main and the prayer complainant, and that the mediation process had not been explained properly.
It's clear from the interest in this issue that the public still care deeply about what their council gets up to.
That's a good sign, particularly in this day and age where the public is increasingly cynical about politicians at both the local and central government levels.
However, if the controversy surrounding the prayer drags on much longer, our council will risk becoming something of a laughing stock, and any unrelated positive achievements made by this council will become lost amid the prayer debate.
It seems some councillors are now tiring of the prayer issue.
Eventually, the public will too, and the time is now right for a solution to be found.
Feedback: editor@wanganuichronicle.co.nz