counted.
In the past weeks, my Christchurch 2021 city team and I have been busy on the
ground seeking the views of Christchurch people. The message we are picking up
loud and clear is that people feel that their City Council does not listen to
them.
Over the coming weeks there will undoubtedly be much discussion around
“consultation” and “engagement”. How can we best do it?
Indeed, the campaign over the next eighty days will test some of the methods.
Is listening best done through PR and advertising or is it through
on-the-ground engagement with individuals, groups and communities?
How can we engage?
This forum is one way. It has already given rise to some, at times, lively and
robust debate and sharing of ideas. It is an important addition to our local
political scene. Many of the posts have been thoughtful, constructive, detailed
and knowledgeable. However, as with most means of communication as the old
pattern of dominant media starts to break down it must be remembered this
succeeds in engaging only a niche group.
There are other on-line ways of engaging. A growing number of candidates have
websites (mine can be found at http://www.megan4mayor.com). Some of these
provide ways for visitors to the site to engage with the candidate. A number of
candidates in Christchurch 2021, including myself, have also established
presences on social networking sites (Bebo, Facebook, and Myspace). Valuable,
but again, these are niche ways of engaging.
As well as using new media and technology to engage, I have also resorted to
good old-fashioned hustings stuff. Time consuming and costly in terms of shoe
leather. This is politics at the grassroots. In addition to accepting
invitations to attend community meetings, 2021 and I have been initiating our
own real engagement with our communities. We have been out door knocking. Last
Friday night we kicked off a series of public meetings to give the people the
opportunity to meet our candidates, share their views and ask us questions.
This weekend we start street corner meetings. These valuable methods can and do
reach a broader range of people, but can also run the risk of engaging the
engaged.
As people committed to local democracy we need to find ways to engage those who
do not readily choose to involve themselves in the local body political
process. By far and away the biggest feedback process that any elected member
faces is an election. A strong mandate demands a strong voter turnout. As we
know, however, voter turnout in New Zealand local body elections is not good.
Last election Christchurch was below the national average (a 39% voter turnout
in Christchurch as against a 46% national average, which was bad enough in
itself). It is all too easy for local body politicians to absolve themselves of
responsibility and point to voter apathy. We need to remember, however, that
although we could do better, New Zealanders are a relatively politically
engaged people. In the 2005 central government elections we achieved a voter
turnout of 77% that placed us 8th out of 30 OECD countries (and it needs to be
remembered that we do not have compulsory voting in this country while some of
the countries ahead of us on the list, such as Australia, do.
Those of us involved in, and who are passionate about, local body politics need
to find ways to bridge this gap of those who engage at the national but not the
local level. We need to make this election relevant to the people of
Christchurch and Canterbury. It is the job of those seeking office to
demonstrate to those would be voters the relevance of the local body politics
to their lives. This is about our neighbourhoods, our roads, our parks, our
beaches, our water, our safety, our air, our money, our sewage, our diversity,
our libraries, our swimming pools, our rivers, our city and our region .
For this to happen, this election must be about the issues.
I look forward to discussing these with you over the coming week and throughout
the campaign.
In the coming weeks, voters will be offered a clear choice.
Warm Regards,
Megan