Dannevirke electrician wants to spark change as Tararua councillor

Steve Wallace is looking forward to his first term on Tararua District Council. Photo / Leanne Warr

Steve Wallace sees his new role as a Tararua District Council councillor as being "a representative for the people".

Wallace, a Dannevirke electrician, won his seat with preliminary results indicating he received the most votes.

"I'm very touched by the people that did vote for me and I thank them immensely," Wallace said.

Wallace said he owed a special thanks to "my pa who passed, for letting me use his truck, after getting permission from nan".

He was looking forward to the new chapter in his life and intended to enter it with "a clear, unbiased opinion so we can be exposed to the facts and figures".

Wallace will still have somewhat of a learning curve before his first council meeting but he said he'll be sent the details and all the procedures that he'll have to know.

While he wasn't familiar with what had happened in council in the past, he was keen to look to the future and learn from past mistakes so they weren't repeated.

Wallace felt all councillors were going into the term with the same intention – working towards the betterment of the Tararua district.

"I've got two new grandchildren now. We're the caretakers of this area and hopefully what I can contribute will be of benefit to my grandchildren and to everyone in Dannevirke."

Steve Wallace speaking at a meet the candidates session in August. Photo / Leanne Warr

By Wednesday this week, election results showed a little under half of eligible voters had returned their voting papers, with special votes still to be counted.

While Wallace was rapt with the results, he thought it was time for the voting system to be reviewed.

"I think the voting system will come under real scrutiny, because it's not working."

He said most people today, when they got to work, the first thing they would do is turn on a computer and many also did the bulk of financial transactions online.

If voting was online, that could potentially get more voters.

Alternatively, they could go back to the old way of everyone turning up to a polling booth on a set day, where "everyone makes a hoo-rah for that day and go in and do their bit".

However, he felt that the major problem with voting was that people had other things to think about.

"I think a lot of people, it's not that they don't want to vote, they're just in such dire straits, they're thinking more about getting food on the table. And that's a sad state of affairs.

"We live in unprecedented times."

Wallace felt people didn't realise they had "the power of one", or they didn't fully understand what their vote was all about.

"Voting is certainly something to be addressed. Let's watch this space and see what happens in the next little while, because I think it is probably time for change."

Tararua district's results were consistent with other regions, but it was also another example of doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, which Wallace said was the "definition of stupidity".

"If we expect change and want change, we have to change."

TIGHT RACE FOR MĀORI WARD

Who will sit as the first councillor in the Māori ward for Tararua District Council is still uncertain.

The final count for votes for the district was expected to be announced on Thursday this week. but the seat remained the most hotly contested with a difference of just eight votes.

Naioma Chase had 181 votes as of Sunday and Lorraine Stephenson had 173 with special votes still to be included.

In the North ward, Wallace had the most votes, followed by Erana Peeti-Webber, Kerry Sutherland and Sharon Wards - the latter three returning for a further term.

South ward councillors Alison Franklin and Peter Johns also return for another term with Scott Gilmore and Michael Long each getting enough votes to be elected on the council.

Tracey Collis also returns for her third term as mayor with over 2000 votes more than her closest rival, Sharon Wards.