Get informed, vote — and ensure your voice is heard
Kia ora readers, I hope you have enjoyed reading about the people vying to represent you in local government. For this liftout we asked each of the Western Bay District Council candidates as well as candidates for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s Tauranga constituency and Mauao Ma¯ ori constituency to provide us with a 150-word candidate statement and an image of themselves.
We were strict with the word count — cutting one word from those who submitted 151, 15 from those who submitted 165, and so on.
While these were edited for brevity and grammar, I endeavoured to leave the meaning intact.
I encourage you to read the statements the candidates relevant to you have provided, make an informed decision, and above all vote.
The people in these pages who are successful will be your voices at a district and regional level for the next three years. They are the ones who will set rates, decide what does and doesn’t get funded and create plans for the future of our district.
It is often said, but if you do not vote, you do not have a voice, and some believe if people don’t vote, they can’t complain about any future decisions.
The 150 words in these candidates’ statement are not the only ways to find out about what these people stand for. I also encourage you to read the bios they provide in the voting documents which are soon to be distributed.
Many of these candidates also have online and social media presences and can be engaged with directly. Ask them questions, scrutinise and then decide what is most important to you and whose values you align with.
There are also community events and debates being held you can attend or see our reporting on.
In Rotorua the (S)elect app allows you to anonymously ask a single or multiple candidates questions and see their public responses providing another way to get to know them.
I also encourage you to go to the Bay of Plenty Times website and look back at our pre-election coverage to date, and to keep an eye on our continued coverage. We have stories profiling candidates, discussing key issues, and stories about pre-election promises.
Local government elections traditionally have low turnout — about 40 per cent compared with 80 per cent for central government.
In Rotorua the voter return was 45.15 per cent or 21,208 votes, excluding special votes.
Voter return for the Western Bay of Plenty District Council was 40 per cent — the highest turnout since 2010.
According to Local Government New Zealand, the average turnout in territorial authorities was 48.3 per cent.
LGNZ says regional councils are primarily concerned with environmental resource management, flood control, air and water quality, pest control, and, in specific cases, public transport, regional parks and bulk water supply.
District councils are responsible for a range of local services including roads, water reticulation, sewerage and refuse collection, libraries, parks, recreation services, local regulations, community and economic development, and town planning.
All of these things directly affect local residents.
So have your say, get informed and vote.*
Local government elections traditionally have low turnout — about 40 per cent compared with 80 per cent for central government.