Trolls deter council candidates
Covid-19 had seen many people retreat to their friends and families, while there were also challenges with being an elected member, especially around social media trolling and abuse.
One South Island council has seven seats up for grabs at October’s local body elections, but so far only three people are interested in the $20,000-a-year role.
Councils nationwide have more seats than willing candidates, Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) says, and nominations close at midday Friday.
Yesterday, LGNZ put out an ‘‘SOS for local democracy’’ – led by national council member Lan Pham – in a bid to spur more people to stand.
Pham, a two-term Environment Canterbury councillor who is not seeking reelection, told assembled media that the dearth of candidates was most pronounced in smaller rural councils.
The picturesque Mackenzie District in the South Island has seven council seats to fill, but so far there are just three nominations. The job pays $19,659 a year.
It also has 12 community board seats available, but just one nominee so far. These roles pay about $2000 to $2500 a year, depending which board a person is on.
Still, Mackenzie does have a race for the mayoralty, between Robin McCarthy and Anne Munro.
Buller District Council has no candidates to represent its Inangahua community. No nominations have been received for the two council and four community board seats.
Hauraki District Council, just south of Auckland, has 13 seats in total, but only seven people have stepped up.
If only one candidate has put their name forward by the time nominations close, the candidate will be elected unopposed.
If some council seats are unfilled, but the council as a whole has enough candidates to fill half its seats, that council is considered to have a quorum.
If a council does not fill half of its seats, a by-election would be triggered. If that still does not generate candidates, then people could be appointed.
There were several factors behind the low candidate numbers, Pham said.
Covid-19 had seen many people retreat to their friends and families, while there were also challenges with being an elected member, especially around social media trolling and abuse, she said.
The pay was not great for some council roles, and most people on smaller councils would need a part-time or full-time job to make ends meet.
‘‘That’s part of the juggle and one of the barriers people struggle with.’’
Pham said being a councillor involved a lot of meetings and explaining issues to the community.
University of Canterbury political science professor Bronwyn Hayward said she had seen a number of new, young candidates stand for community boards this year.
Still, she agreed Covid-19 had put people off standing for local government, adding she believed ethnic minorities and women also did not want to be exposed to trolling and abuse.
‘‘That is really putting people off, which is a huge shame, and we have to find a way to bring back more civil discourse in our public life,’’ Hayward said.
Asked about changing the size and number of councils, she thought it could be a double-edged sword.
Having fewer councils could make people feel less connected, but having smaller local communities facing big issues, such as climate change, could make them feel quite powerless.