Slow start to meeting the candidates
Less than half of Palmerston North’s council hopefuls turned up at a weeklong series of meet-the-candidates sessions hosted by Manawatu¯ People’s Radio and Community Services Council.
After the final meeting yesterday, which focused on community issues, convenor Fraser Greig said 15 of the 31 candidates had spoken at the themed meetings.
The series at Hancock Community House took on extra significance this election after the Palmerston North City Council contracted out its election management services, and also pulled out of hosting candidate meetings.
Greig said this week’s meetings had been recorded, and there would be future meetings hosted by Massey University Students Association, and Environment Network Manawatu¯ . All Saints Church is also organising a series of meetings for mayoral, city council and Horizons Regional Council candidates.
Priest and former deputy mayor John Hornblow said those meetings would be an attempt to step into the gap left by the council. ‘‘The city council has abdicated their democratic role in the city, and it makes it really hard for people to access more than a very peripheral bit of information about the candidates.
‘‘How can we increase involvement [in local elections] if council bows out?’’
He said many community groups would not have the resources to organise meetings, and many had specialist interests that might not encourage a wide turnout by the general public.
Its meetings would be at noon on September 19 with the mayoral candidates, 5pm on September 25 with council candidates, and 7pm on September 18 for Horizons candidates.
Organiser Robert Gibb said the format for the two-hour councillor event would provide speaking time and an opportunity to mingle.
Councillor Rachel Bowen, who is seeking re-election, said she had attempted to get council management to reverse its decision on hosting meetings, and was unsuccessful.
If groups wanted to hire council facilities for meetings, they would have to pay normal hire rates.
Bowen said the council functions were particularly useful because they were recorded and people could watch them on the council website, extending the reach of the content. It cost a reasonable amount of money for anyone else to make videos of the events, she said.
The candidates who attended Friday’s meeting were Andy Asquith and Maruna Engu, who are both contesting the mayoralty, incumbent councillors Lorna Johnson (Labour) and Tangi Utikere, and newcomers Zulfiqar Butt (Labour) and Renee Dingwall (Green).
The focus was on the council’s goal for a strong and connected community, and how effectively the council was working with community groups to achieve that.
One of Asquith’s themes is that the council confuses apathy with contentment. Engu referred to his own criminal history, a life story that was ‘‘not pretty’’, and called for ‘‘a touch of empathy’’.
Johnson said the council needed to work with the community groups who had the ‘‘enthusiasm and passion’’ to find solutions to problems, and Utikere said while there was more to be done, this council had listened and responded, and had a strong track record on community issues.
Butt said council and community members had responsibilities to be sensitive to different cultures, and Dingwall emphasised the need for training for the community workers trying to respond to a series of critical needs.