Opinion: Mayor Neil Volzke says local elections brought plenty of change

Stratford Mayor Neil Volzke was the first to be sworn in and was all smiles as he prepared to swear in his fellow 11 elected members. Photo / Ilona Hanne

After an enforced three-month break from writing this column prior to the local government elections, due to election rules, and a two-month break following the elections, it’s nice to be back.

Somewhat amazingly to me, a few people have actually asked when this column was returning, so rather humbly I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you over the next 12 months.

Over the last few months, the local government elections have dominated the thoughts of most people involved with the council. I’ve heard it said the Stratford District election was a non-event because there was no contest for the urban ward, the newly created Māori ward or for the mayoralty, simply because the number of candidates equalled the number of positions available. While in the rural ward we had five candidates for the four seats meaning only one candidate missed out on being elected.

I have experienced eight of these elections plus a by-election during my time on the council and I readily concede 2022 was quite strange, almost bizarre, but it was certainly not a non-event. I say this because of the final outcome that introduced five new elected members to the mix of 11, our first Māori elected member and a new deputy mayor. We now have half of our councillors under the age of 40 and our first female deputy mayor in Min McKay. Collectively that outcome cannot be described as a non-event, especially in the context that historically, Stratford has had only one or two changes per election over the last two decades.

Cheekily, I reckon that some of the “good old boys” from the past would be wondering what the hell is going on, but the community has changed and life has changed, for the better, I think. So now we just need to knuckle down and get on with the job.

Across the region, there were significant changes regarding elected councillors as well, but at the top table fellow mayors Phil Nixon and Neil Holdom were returned with resounding victories. The Taranaki Regional Council has a new chairwoman in Charlotte Littlewood and former deputy mayor Alan Jamieson is the new Stratford representative on that council.

As a region, Taranaki is politically stable and the degree of collaboration between the councils is strong and hugely beneficial to our collective ratepayers. This looks set to continue and is of growing importance as we try to navigate our way through difficult financial times and during the challenging times of a massive government reforms programme.

Some parts of the country are not so fortunate and there has been wholesale change. In my experience, this often results in a loss of momentum while people bring themselves up to speed and tackle the enormous learning curve that sits in front of any newly elected councillor or mayor. The upper North Island seems to have more change than most.

Wherever they may be, of the 67 mayors in New Zealand 31 of them were new to the job on October 8 this year, and together we can look forward to a three-year term full of challenge and change.

Sometimes people like to jokingly remind me, I think, that as a seasoned campaigner and in a role where experience definitely helps, the role of mayor should become easy. I’ll concede it can become easier on occasion, but it is never easy and I firmly believe that it is more difficult now than when I started as mayor 13 years ago. The role has changed so much and continues to do so. Today there is a much greater need for advocacy and pushing for things that affect and are important to people in this community. I am looking forward to the challenge.