Electioneering may be brutal but what about gardening?
SOPHIE Barker has had to endure teasing about being a pirate and a oneeyed councillor in the past week.
The Dunedin mayoralty candidate was gardening furiously last Friday ahead of a visit by members of a vegetable growers club when she received a 1cm scratch on her cornea from a flax bush.
She maintained her perfect record of council meeting attendance by turning up to a meeting on Tuesday, but struggled to read her notes.
It’s possible the flax attack might have affected Cr Barker’s perception at the council meeting.
During a discussion about trains, she had good reason to hesitate while suggesting Middlemarch might one day be a thriving little city.
An opportunity to commit electoral fraud arrived in my letterbox recently. It was a voting form for a previous occupant of my residence.
Getting one word in a sentence slightly wrong can have dramatic implications, as Dunedin mayoralty candidate Richard Seager demonstrated last week.
Candidates were asked about recent performing arts productions they had attended and Mr Seager opted for ‘‘Fiddler on the Youth’’.
He struggled to recall precisely when this might have been, but Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins was able to assist.
Indeed, Mr Hawkins was in a production of Fiddler on the Roof, which Musical Theatre Dunedin says was performed in 2003.
Jenn Shulzitski, also known as Slime the Nitrate Monster, missed out on having her photo in the candidate profile booklet for the Otago Regional Council.
‘‘Unfortunately, the error occurred in the proofing and printing process,’’ electoral officer Anthony Morton said.
‘‘The photo provided by Jenn (Slime) Shulzitski was omitted in error before the candidate profile booklets were printed.’’
Her photo is on the regional council’s website, for what it’s worth.
People who read Tracy Paterson’s profile statement for the Central Otago District Council may have struggled to work out what she was talking about.
That’s because it was a statement for a health agency.
‘‘Unfortunately, the error occurred in the proofing and printing process,’’ Mr Morton said.
The correct profile is on the district council’s website.
Candidates at debates in Opoho Presbyterian Church last week were asked about their favourite recreational activities.
‘‘I love karaoke and kickboxing — not at the same time,’’ Robyn McLean said.
There was at least one name that should have stayed in the memory of audience members at the second Opoho debate, if only because host Phil Somerville repeatedly got it wrong: Chriss Hamilton.
Also, she should pick up ranking points for her choice of favourite book, Pride and Prejudice.
Randal Scott said his favourite movie was The Sound of Music. It remains up there for me, too.
My enduring regret from appearing in the stage show was once saying I had a telegram for Captain von Trapp when it was actually for Herr Detweiler (Uncle Max).
Team Dunedin member Kevin Gilbert had a swipe about the culture of the present council.
Lack of business acumen was evident, as well as ‘‘blatant immaturity by some’’ elected members, he said.
Inperson campaigning has been curtailed for Dunedin City Council candidate Steve Walker. He contracted Covid19, he confirmed this week.
Past winner of cliche of the week David Milne has picked up the gong again.
The Dunedin mayoralty candidate’s offering this time: ‘‘Young people are our future, for sure.’’