Samantha Motion: Tauranga's decaying democracy is about to hit a bizarre milestone

Tauranga voters won't be needing these come October. At least they have a by-election to look forward to. Photo / Richard Robinson

OPINION

What a depressing few years it has been in Tauranga politics.

At the last Bay of Plenty Regional Council election, the city couldn't even muster enough candidates for a contest for the Tauranga seats. Everyone who applied for the job got it. Voting was not required.

It seemed like a new low for local democracy... until the city council got going.

After months of infighting, first a councillor then the mayor tossed in the towel, only for the remaining elected members to be subbed out for four Government-appointed commissioners, who have just had their term extended until July 2024.

Tauranga voters will sit on the bench come national local body elections in October.

In central Government politics, we watched an ugly battle between Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller and Tauranga MP Simon Bridges for the job of National Party leader.

Muller rolled Bridges for the job; then quit it (and, under leader Judith Collins, almost quit altogether) while Bridges briefly contested the leadership again before stepping back to clear the way for Christopher Luxon.

This week, Bridges said he was quitting Parliament to chase commercial opportunities and more family time, leaving Tauranga with another political leadership vacuum.

It will also mean that, between Bridges resigning and a new MP being elected, Tauranga general roll voters will have no politicians they voted in themselves to represent the city - not at local, regional or national levels of government.

It's totally bizarre.

The out-of-sequence elections are also going to be financially costly.

Byelections usually cost about $1 million but Tauranga's will probably cost more due to Covid complications.

The city council had $600,000 set aside for the October election, but it's predicted to cost half as much of that again to hold it in 2024 instead.

"Plain wrong", is what Bridges called Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta'a decision to extend the commission's term.

I feel uncomfortable about it, too, even having backed the original move to a commission to end the dysfunctional dynamic of the last elected cohort.

But the reasons given for keeping the commission on - stability, delivering on projects, demonstrating good governance - do not meet the high threshold to justify removing residents' right to elect their own local representatives for so long.

I'd rather see Tauranga have perhaps a mix of electees and appointees or, at minimum, a Crown manager to make sure they don't spend hours discussing relatively unimportant trees.

Maybe most people in Tauranga wish to keep the commission, or maybe they want it gone or transitioning out - we simply do not have quality evidence to say. Anecdotes from long-term plan engagement, raised by the commission in its report, and from surveying businesses don't count any more than ratepayer association-run informal polls.

I say we put that question to a proper vote in October, in the spirit of strengthening the city's decaying democracy.