Is it time to scrap council elections?

Voting closes at noon on 8 October and you have the choice to decide who will lead Hamilton for the next trimester.

Hamilton City ratepayers have been spoilt for choice with six candidates standing for the mayoralty all wanting your vote.

But the question remains as it does with every candidate who put’s their names forward for positions.

Are they the most qualified person to be in a governance role overseeing million dollars worth of assets and also a setting the social agenda for the city?

So what do we really know about these people we are being asked to vote for?

Is it familiarity because we have heard their names mentioned when it comes to news reports when they may have erred or we have become familiar with their billboards?

Certainly the electoral officer allows each candidate to state their case in the booklet which arrives with your voting papers.

There you can read very little about each candidate who you are being asked to vote for whether it be Hamilton City, Waikato Regional and Waikato District Health Board. How do you decide? In my household they are all meaningless names and I would suggest this is a part of the reasons why many do not vote.

Hamilton this year has had a feast of information available from mayoral forums, to brochures, social media, billboards, right down to toys

‘‘So what do we really know about these people we are being asked to vote for?’’

for the kids bearing candidates names.

And one shouldn’t undervalue the editorial space given and yet we still scratch our heads when it comes to voting as, to who are these people?.

Despite having six candidates for the mayoralty, the choice really comes down to two the candidates polling well, one is a proven leader while the other has only worked for a leader, the choice is not complicated.

The whole election process is similar to The X Factor, it’s not the issues for the majority it’s about whose name is memorable when it comes to voting.

The quality of candidates has always been a concern and the easiest way of ensuring ratepayers get value for money from the council is to scrap the election process and set up a commission that appoints from applicants the best person qualified to run a city.

Mike Bain is a specialist local government reporter.