Post in Who should be the new Mayor of Christchurch?

2007 Jul 11 23:30 UTC

Tim,

Thanks for your post about the local government elections. It's interesting to
have your  perspective as someone who follows local politics closely but is not
directly involved.

I've copied your post here, Tim as "Who should be the new Mayor of
Christchurch?" seems to describe it more accurately than "New posting". (See
"Topics in this Forum"
  http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/1OUuoc212vqkLDzB4mjZra
for more on this.)

Dan

. . . . .

From:  Tim Barnett    Date:   2007-07-11 16:03 (UTC)   Short link
http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/post/4vfh0oN7Yhkgup9VSq9nP8

The local body election campaigns, nationwide, are starting to hot up.  I
vividly remember that the only hard issue of debate in Christchurch 3 years ago
seemed to be the number and price of rubbish bags.  This time we have promise
that more tangible matters will be debated, with two strong Mayoral candidates
and (even given the ward boundaries which are massively skewed against the
progressive side of the political spectrum) the promise of close races in such
wards as Hagley/Ferrymead, Burwood/Pegasus and Riccarton/Wigram.

So what issues will make a difference?  With the annual City Council survey
indicating declining confidence in the responsiveness of the Council and the
quality of its services, certainly the basic matters of service quality and
accessible democracy will be high up the list.

Although I live and work close to the Square and have few fears for my personal
safety, those concerns do colour people's views of our central city.  That
brings in wider matters such as alcohol control, environmental design, living
as well as working in the inner city.

In a more abstract way, our city seems to have lost the plot in some ways in
recent years.  The early 90s saw us win international accolades; still, by the
late 90s, I remember that as an MP I was the envy of many in Parliament since I
represented such a special and dynamic city.  Now I sense there is catch-up to
do, or rather some new thinking and some brave new decisions to make.  Others
have learned from us and built on that - the people who are second doing
something normally learn from those who are first.  We are urgently in need of
some fresh thinking which takes us into the lead as the C21st city of New
Zealand.  What will taht take?  I wait with bated breath to see what the
candidates have to offer - certainly Megan Woods has the edge at the moment,
offering firm policies, a team to help deliver them, an ideology to reinforce
them and the character to make a difference.