As I survey the full menu of candidate choices before us in this year’s local body elections, it seems that only one contest holds any real interest in terms of strategic direction … the competition for seats on the next Regional Council.
So that contest was the focus of our candidate questioning, as reported below.
No other remotely game-changing outcomes will be forthcoming for the Hastings District Council, Napier City Council, CHB District Council or Wairoa District Council.
Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst and CHB Mayor Alex Walker are unopposed and thus re-elected.
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise faces two nuisance candidates who she should defeat handily, but the votes her opponents do win should be a caution that NCC has yet to show much traction on issues that were already on the table three years ago. The past three years have been more about process (commendable … to a point) than substance.
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little with four opponents to split any opposition vote should also continue to wear the mayoral robes.
And on each of these councils, you can count on most incumbents who are re-standing to be re-elected. While a handful of newbies might win seats (and certainly new Māori seats for HDC), they will not change the direction or priorities of their respective councils.
So, the territorial authority elections are basically ho-hum.
The Regional Council is a different story.
HBRC will be shaping the future of the region’s water and climate change management over its next term, and these issues surface very difficult choices about environmental versus economic priorities. Eleven regional councillors will need to navigate those issues, five of them brand new, including for the first time two who will represent newly created Māori constituencies.
Two incumbent HBRC Councillors – Will Foley and Jerf van Beek – are unopposed and thus already re-elected. Likewise, Thompson Hokianga is unopposed for one of the Māori seats and thus elected.
Thirteen other candidates are contesting the eight remaining seats.
Three of these – Hinewai Ormsby, Neal Kirton and Martin Williams campaigning for Napier’s three seats – are strong incumbent vote-getters. It would be the shock of this election if newbie challenger Mark Barham (God bless him for standing), beats any of those three.
Wairoa presents an interesting pairing – a rural-rooted female Pakeha political novice, Di Roadley against an experienced, returning-home Napier councillor and Māori advocate, Api Tapine. Safe to say, two different worldviews and depth of experience with the issues on offer.
That leaves my favourite HBRC constituency, Hastings, which will end up with two new councillors for certain, and possibly three if the only incumbent standing, Craig Foss, is re-elected.
Five candidates are vying for Hastings’ three seats, offering an eclectic set of choices, two of whom – Jock Mackintosh and Steve Gibson – other credentials aside, are ‘clean slates’ when it comes to previous engagement with the region’s environmental policy issues. Two – Sophie Siers and Xan Harding – have environmental nous, but are yet to be tested when the rubber meets the road at trade-off time. And Craig Foss, an experienced politician crouches behind The Right Balance slogan.
Call me biased as a former regional councillor, but given the crucial issues on HBRC’s agenda and the differences in world view represented by the candidates, I believe the composition of the next HBRC (coupled with election of a new Chair) is the only outcome of real significance in this year’s election.
Hence, here are the responses of all thirteen HBRC candidates to the six questions we posed.
Some teasers from three candidates, earning kudos for clarity …
“The Ruataniwha Dam lingers in the nostrils like some unburied carcass in the back paddock.”
“I won’t be supporting a Frankenstein like re-awakening of the Ruataniwha Dam project.”
“We can still have economic growth, but importantly, not growth for growth’s sake and the days of growth coming at the expense of the environment are gone.”
Not the sort of stuff you’ll see in the official Candidates Profiles Guide! By and large the candidates were quite robust and revealing in their responses, providing a clear benchmark against which to gauge future performance if elected. You can count on BayBuzz to keep track!
Water plus storage will have huge amounts of hope to the environment plus the region economically so the negativity you still have is quite a worrying thought
It would be nice to be able to vote, but in our case that is not possible because of the stupid constituency system. Why is this appropriate for a Regional Council election? The HBRC council deliberations and decisions affect everyone in Hawkes Bay. We should be able to vote for . . or against, all canditates for the Regional Council.
The present system can hardly be called democratic.
After reading the above article about HBRC Candidates, it is very unfortunate to find that the written with such bias opinions and is not open minded or being fair to all of those who have stepped up to be considered for varying roles with Councils. Everyone deserves a chance, and surely fair play it not too much to ask Tom Belford…
BayBuzz doesn’t have the resources of HB Today or Stuff (what do you think of their local election non-coverage?), so we had to pick a focus. My article explains our focus on HBRC candidates, and the reporting of their responses is entirely their words verbatim. That’s about as straightforward as anyone could be. That’s not to diminish any other candidates, good on them of standing, but the political reality is that none of the other councils will veer from their current policies or direction if 1-2-3 new faces appear.
Apathy seems to to be alive and well within the Local Government triennial elections. NZ wide!
This will undoubtedly change when the chickens come to roost?
After all in the real world ,
double digit rates increases to the majority of ratepayers is totally unsustainable for the majority of most residents. The loss of over 50% of the dividend from the Port of Napier, through the issue of shares and Now with the recently announced Bond Issue of up to 200 million? Will surely impact badly on the HBRC coffers? And only when that strikes home in one’s own hip pocket! will apathy then take one huge hit! just saying. All rates need to be kept “affordable for all. The same goes for the NCC!