Letters: Have your say on council voting system

PHOTO/FILE

Council referred the option of replacing First-Past-the-Post (FPP) voting with Single-Transferable-Vote (STV) to the Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee.

Te Tatau o Te Arawa, Lakes Community Board, Rural Community Board and the public can now provide input before council makes its final decision by September 12.

FPP, where voters tick candidates, is familiar and more easily understood. But it is more likely than STV to lead to councils that do not have the support of the majority in the community.

It is also more likely that greater numbers of voters will not have representation.

STV, where voters rank candidates 1, 2, 3 ..., transfers votes for the least preferred candidates until all places are filled. STV is fairer, in my view, because outcomes are more representative of voters' preferences. Voters don't need to know how preferences are allocated to get this benefit.

DHBs are required by law to use STV. Where local councils switch from FPP to STV the number of invalid votes drops from about 9 to 1.5 per cent.

In my view there will be fewer wasted votes if council adopts STV and those elected will be more likely to have the support of a majority of voters.

I urge residents and ratepayers, and our policy advisory boards, to advise council that STV is better able to deliver fairer representation, reflect the distinctive nature of our community, and to elect candidates that best represent our interests.

REYNOLD MACPHERSON
Rotorua

Storms cause cemetery damage

Family members who plan a visit to Kaue cemetery may be upset to discover items missing or scattered from graves.

Do not be too hasty to place the blame on vandalism because recent storms are the cause. Motorists driving on the highway adjacent to the cemetery recently reported being showered by items such as flowers and children's toys. The experience was rather distressing.

Until recently large established trees stood on three sides of the cemetery but these have been removed. The buffer they provided against the wind has now gone and the area is bare of vegetation.

I wonder what plans the council has for the cemetery.

GLORIA WELLS
Rotorua

Tall stories

Who do they think they are kidding? The council skites about an award they got for Crankworx at the Local Government Conference, and smothers us with the over-cooked BS that baffled the judges.

The judges obviously didn't open the books showing that Crankworx has gobbled up bailouts of $132,519 with nothing yet repaid from this year's tiny profit, and up to $500,000 underwrite still available. I guess they were taken in by tall stories about the money it brings to the local economy.

Ratepayers will be hoping for three more awards. The award for council best at debt repayment. The award for council best at shedding non-core business adventures. The award for council best at attracting private enterprise investment. Fat chance.

The photograph captioned "Happy" told it all. It featured Rotorua's co-governance power elite, desperate for credit but deserving the blame.

HARRY BRASSER
Rotorua

No real options

With elections on the horizon, it is extremely difficult to decide which party - or person to vote for. I have long believed that we should all vote, it is an essential part of every democracy, but here in New Zealand there is a problem; there is no party I wish to give my vote.

I do not like anything that National has done since they came to office, I have no confidence in Labour, New Zealand First is a joke, the Greens have such mind boggling schemes none of them will work and Conservatives and Liberals are not even in the running!

I am worried, very worried that National will get in again, New Zealand cannot afford another term with them at the helm. We seriously need a new party here and some MPs with more between their ears than Hans Christian Andersen had to offer.

I like our local MP, he is a good man and would make a fine PM, but not with National! What a quandary!

JIM ADAMS
Rotorua