Bill Armitt from Hot Printz loves elections. He is among Northland signwriters making hay from the election hoardings springing up around Whangarei. Photo / John Stone
Bill Armitt from Hot Printz loves elections. He is among Northland signwriters making hay from the election hoardings springing up around Whangarei. Photo / John Stone
Brian Boys reckons Northland should hold an election every week.
He would. He's one of the Whangarei signwriters enjoying a fatter-than-usual pay packet thanks to hundreds of election hoardings stationed around the town.
"It creates a lot of extra work, so we had people doing extra hours, it's a shameit doesn't happen every month," said Mr Boys, of Fast Signz Whangarei.
"There seems to be far less graffiti which is good. I mean, it's not good for business but it's good to see them being left alone."
Bill Armitt from Hot Printz said he had ordered four pallets of corflute in preparation for the elections, with the larger mayoral hoardings going for $90-$100.
"One particular crowd - I won't name them but you can guess - they've done a bucket-load so paid a bit less. They're not super-expensive, but then we don't supply the framing," Mr Armitt said.
While his company had done more than half the hoardings in Whangarei, he felt there were fewer than in the 2013 election, which he put down to a smaller pool of mayoral candidates. But, as reasonable as $90 a pop seems, some candidates had got even more thrifty.
Two of the six running for Whangarei mayor, TogetherTahi's Ash Holwell and Matt Keene, had shunned traditional hoardings and instead asked local artists to paint on ply, with the artworks to be displayed amidst other candidates' signs in the coming days.
"Whangarei doesn't need us contributing more visual pollution with our head shots under a slogan and a tick. Those billboards have a life of about 10 weeks and then they're useless," Mr Keene said.
"We didn't give [the artists] any brief; they've painted what they want."
Northland Regional Council candidate Paul Doherty did a DIY job on sacks and recycled corflute using spray paint and $7 of ribbon.
"I wanted to do something different, sustainable and funky," he said.
Dave Ferrett isn't a late interloper into the Whangarei election race, despite a sign asking people to vote for him popping up. It's a practical joke from some mates. Photo / Michael Cunningham
"I took a selfie and cut out some stencils ... I've got the help of some woofer from Germany." Others had reused billboards from previous campaigns.
A late interloper into the council race is actually a poster boy for parties, not politics, and says he is the victim of a practical joke by his friends.
Hoarding-style signs featuring Whangarei's Dave Ferrett sprang up over the weekend, emblazoned with the words "Vote Dave Ferret - #letspartay" over a photo of the 24-year-old mechanic sporting an impressive moustache.
But Mr Ferrett, whose surname is misspelt on the signs, is not actually standing for council. His friends put the signs up on Hatea Drive, Port Rd and the loop walkway as a practical joke.
"I let them take my picture, now I regret it," Mr Ferrett said. "I guess it's pretty amusing."
He said there had been only mild ribbing from his workmates and he had decided not to plan a retaliation prank. "It'll just end up getting more extreme."
