News
It may not have had the razzmatazz of a Trump of Clinton presidential campaign rally in the US but we are not in the US and the stakes here are not as considerable as running for President of the US of A
None the less the campaign to wear mayoral chains of our fare city is underway in earnest.
Someone is having some fun. Photo: whatsoninvers.nz
The billboards, hoardings are all up, circulars distributed or soon to be distributed, ads placed in various media and now its the public meeting trail.
Yes, we still have the odd public meeting.
This week started with the Grey Power hosted mayoral candidates debate.
Organisers were concerned about attendance numbers but would’ve been pleased with the attendance of just over 130 of the Grey Power age group.
Photo: whatsoninvers.nz
In fairness the three candidates, Tim Shadbolt, Karen Arnold and Tom Conroy got off to a slow start but the temperature certainly climbed when the contentious issues of reducing rates and shopping trips to China for Christmas lights came up.
Incumbent Tim Shadbolt spoke as he always does although lost his way on a couple of the topics and with some questions from the floor. One term councillor Karen Arnold also got off to a slow start but rapidly gained in confidence when the more juicier issues arose. She also spoke with a great deal of knowledge only gained after spending the last three years as a city councillor.
Tom Conroy spoke as someone outside of the fishbowl and as someone from a business and media background.
Photo: whatsoninvers.nz
On one issue in particular, the Better Local Services bill, there seems to be a considerable gulf between what Local Government Minister Lotu-Iiga said happened at a meeting here in Invercargill and what Shadbolt and Arnold said happened. That meeting was in the same room where today’s forum was held at The Ascot Park Hotel.
The Christmas Lights fiasco was brought up late in the meeting. Tim Shadbolt had the spotlight shone on him as the man in charge when all this unravelled. No-one was any clearer as to whether the Chinese specials are destined for the bin or can be made NZ compliant as some with experience in these matters are suggesting.
Photo: whatsoninvers.nz
After all was said and done, and the meeting did run over time, it’s this observer’s view that one possibly two candidates improved their stocks and one who went backwards. We’ll leave you to ponder over who they might be.
One thing is for sure, the winds of change right round the council table appear to be gathering strength and this will be one of the most interesting campaigns that Invercargill has seen in many years.
There are a few more mayoral candidate forums coming up, please make an effort to go along.
This is likely to be one of the most important local body elections for Invercargill going forward, please make your vote count.
Mal