Political name a winner
Sharing his name with a former prime minister could be a sign of the future for Tawa teenager Jack Marshall.
Mr Marshall, 19, was last month elected to the Tawa Community Board, but said he had barely heard of the country’s former leader until recently.
‘‘I asked my mum whether that was a deciding factor when she named me and she said it was a little bit. But she also just liked the name Jack,’’ he said.
‘‘ He had the nickname ‘Gentleman Jack’ and I think everybody sort of liked him.’’
However, he said that being on the centre left, he would have little in common politically with the former National Party leader.
Mr Marshall, a Victoria University law student, was born in Christchurch, but said Tawa was a great place to live.
‘‘It is a suburb that is quite lively and has a good community feel,’’ he said.
Mr Marshall said being on the Wellington City Youth Council for the past six years gave him the experience needed to be on the community board.
‘‘That has exposed me to local government and I have learnt a lot of council processes through the youth council,’’ he said.
Mr Marshall said the other board members reacted positively to the election of a young person.
‘‘ They are actually quite happy that there is a younger voice.
‘‘They recognise that has been lacking in recent years.’’
Regional amalgamation would be a focus for him during the next three years, he said.
‘‘We need to make sure that the community voice is not lost.’’
The former Tawa College student said he wanted to see value for ratepayers’ money, despite not being one himself.
With construction to begin on Transmission Gully next year, Mr Marshall said he was concerned about the impact of the Linden interchange.
‘‘It would be quite good to work closely with NZTA on that project to make sure the effect is mitigated in some way,’’ he said.
The civil defence volunteer said he was keen to continue the process of drafting an emergency management plan for Tawa.
‘‘ It is still in the planning stage, but I would really like to see that through.’’
Mr Marshall said his political role model was Wellington deputy mayor Justin Lester, whom he described as a ‘‘young vibrant voice’’, and that he was an admirer of former Prime Minister Helen Clark.
He said he had several years to decide whether he would stand for a council seat in 2016.