Nickie Muir.
Go Whangarei! But where to? I love local body elections. The random photo line-ups. The even more enigmatic slogans.
A quick visit back to Whangarei last week proved a gallery of all that is good and ghastly about local democracy.
The Go Whangarei team in a line of 13 impressively uniform photos reminded me of those Soviet politburo shots or the promotional posters of a Bollywood hit.
Why having an entirely united council would be an attractive proposition in a town where we've struggled to get functioning democracy back after years of "workshopping outcomes" and much of the democratic process was hidden from public view would be a good idea is mysterious to me.
The number 13 in archetypal literature evokes the 13th fairy who will not receive the invite to some workshop of pre-determined outcomes and will rise up and curse the party and all their offspring at the christening of some new policy. Isn't it just tempting fate?
Decision making is supposed to be messy. It's how you negotiate new directions. Good decisions come from a push from below not a dictate from above.
Not every councillor will think the same and not every constituency will want them to. It's called good democracy.
It's annoying because it's about people and consensus. That's why communism is so satisfying.
Everyone is so united, or if they're not you can always make them disappear. Still it's always good to see new faces and for some of the councillors their signage says it all: '[Please!] Vote for ... or ... "Back Again ... [What? Like Arnie?]" Re-elect ..."
It's all a bit tired.
The lucky people of Ruakaka have the choice of two councillors who have been in power since the time of the woolly mammoth and some young man who ... er ... looks rather like a friendly, woolly mammoth.
What is it with hipsters and their facial hair? Dude: one day that thing will rise up and take over your house in your sleep. Is it even, like, registered or something?
There seems to be some disparaging of the idea of "steady as she goes" however given the mayoral merry-go-round Whangarei had to weather where the management ended up to all intents and purposes running the show for years. I'd have thought a steady hand would be a good thing.
The council has a relatively new CEO, it would be unusual if it hadn't taken a few years just to unravel legacy issues that might have stemmed from previous weak governance.
You'd need at least two terms to hit your stride in any new direction you wanted to take the town.
Nice to note Brent Mawson's cherry face on the electorate boards of my old ward. His background in early childhood education and tertiary educational leadership may help to get the education of our young people back on the table in terms of regional economic development.
There is lots to choose from and it does matter. So dig out those papers and have your say!