Council elections; interesting candidates

[SueDonim]

That's evidently most of them.

Not 100% correct, there are quite a few councils that have got it good.
Particularly in many small rural towns where they have good infrastructure.

Main centres may be different, but a few major councils have got it good.
Also for "technical support" if your drain is blocked on the street, you will have to call your nearest water authority which will be over 100km away from where we live.
Much better to deal with your local council dont you think?
BTW, there is a great deal of kiwis against 3 waters, except for those who live under shit councils who are happy for the rest of kiwis to pay for their mistakes.

Our water in all the main centres is perfectly safe to drink, the whole hawkes bay scandal was just an excuse for putting this legislation into practice.

Yes. We have high rates because of what has been spent on water, and now are being threatened with the government takeover, which is also far more racially inspired than people realise. If I remember rightly the Hawkes Bay fiasco came from them stopping the chlorination of their supply after pressure from the idiots who don't realise how important chlorine is in our daily lives. We now get bombarded in all directions with all kinds of cleaning chemicals when mostly we just need baking soda, lemon juice and chlorine. Safer, and should be cheaper too, but not always. But that's going OT.

I posted my voting papers yesterday. Voted for the mayoral candidate who will stand up to the CE they currently have who has had free reign to do things "his" way and consequently all the best staff have been leaving. Also tried to stick to candidates who show they understand governance and how to handle conflict of interest. Those who start their bios with "I've got a [spouse] and [x] kids get crossed off unless their next sentence is pretty compelling.

[Lilith7]

One candidate is claiming NZ is the victim of 'global medical tyranny.'

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politic...al-tyranny

"An Auckland mayoral candidate claims the Covid-19 vaccine is “experimental” and New Zealand is being dictated to by a “global medical tyranny”.

Candidate Tricia Cheel has made numerous false claims about the Covid-19 vaccine, which has been shown to significantly reduce the severity of the virus.

It refers to politicians and health leaders, including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, former director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield and science commentator Dr Siouxsie Wiles, as “thugs” and declares: “Lock 'em ALL up!!!”

When approached by Stuff, Cheel said the majority of the population didn’t hold the same views on the vaccine as her as they had never delved beneath the surface.

Cheel has also run for Parliament in the north Auckland suburb of Whangaparāoa as a member of the Outdoors Party (now the Outdoors & Freedom Party), which is run by lawyer Sue Grey, a key figure in the anti-vaccination movement."

[king1]

One candidate is claiming NZ is the victim of  'global medical tyranny.'

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politic...al-tyranny

"An Auckland mayoral candidate claims the Covid-19 vaccine is “experimental” and New Zealand is being dictated to by a “global medical tyranny”.

Candidate Tricia Cheel has made numerous false claims about the Covid-19 vaccine, which has been shown to significantly reduce the severity of the virus.

It refers to politicians and health leaders, including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, former director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield and science commentator Dr Siouxsie Wiles, as “thugs” and declares: “Lock 'em ALL up!!!”

When approached by Stuff, Cheel said the majority of the population didn’t hold the same views on the vaccine as her as they had never delved beneath the surface.

Cheel has also run for Parliament in the north Auckland suburb of Whangaparāoa as a member of the Outdoors Party (now the Outdoors & Freedom Party), which is run by lawyer Sue Grey, a key figure in the anti-vaccination movement."

You know, I would like to say that flakes with weird belief sets should not be allowed to run for public office, even with a less than zero percent chance of getting elected - but I appreciate it is the right of every citizen yada yada yada...

[Foal30]

It’s easier to laugh than cry

[Foal30]

I certainly don’t know the back story but this PFQ

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3007082...ir-resigns

[king1]

anyone heard if any of the VFF or Destiny mob had any success?

[Lilith7]

According to this 'fewer than a dozen' were voted into councils. Which is a few too many, imo. I'm pleased that none were elected here.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politic...o-councils

"Two prominent Voices for Freedom spokespeople have been elected to local body positions, in an election that otherwise saw a widespread rejection of candidates who advanced false claims and conspiracy theories.

Jaspreet Boparai and Gill Booth are active members of VFF, and have fronted videos about running for local elections. Dairy farmer Boparai, who pushes a conspiracy theory about a UN agenda to enslave humanity, was elected to the Southland District Council.

Booth was elected to the Teviot Community Board in Central Otago. She is a frequent guest speaker on VFF’s online channel. In declaring her candidacy, she told supporters to “absolutely disrupt and rip to pieces our local council”.

As of Saturday night, fewer than a dozen of those identified by Stuff had been successful, and several incumbent councillors with those views lost their positions.

In Carterton, seven-term councillor Jill Greathead, who belongs to VFF’s Wairarapa group and carried a Refreshing Local Democracy affiliation, lost her seat. In Gisborne, incumbent councillor Meredith Akuhata-Brown, who was reprimanded for posting false information about the Covid-19 vaccine on social media, also failed in her re-election bid.

Christchurch city had a particularly high concentration of VFF-aligned candidates, with five candidates competing for 11 seats. None were successful."

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And - this chap was elected....

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3007082...rd-contest


"North Auckland’s infamous penis Picasso has won his contest to be a member of the Rodney Local Board.

Geoff Upson made headlines for spray-painting phalluses onto road potholes in an effort to coax Auckland Transport into having them repaired.

Upson said he was surprised on Friday afternoon when he checked the preliminary results and found his support had swollen to an 863-vote majority in the rural ward.

“I honestly didn’t think the campaign was going that well. I only spent $4000, and I’ve mainly been putting rubber ducks into potholes.”

[king1]

I'm pleased no-one in chch had any success.

Makes you wonder what is going on in the other regions that actually voted a few in, maybe they're rural areas and took advantage of the three waters dissention

[yousnoozeyoulose]

I'm rural, and I'm sure we've had a secret loony get in. She was the only woman standing, which helps greatly when voters are essentially just picking random names. Never got outed as a nutjob but all the signs were there. Even worse, she got in at the expense of a guy who'd voluntarily done things for the community because the council wouldn't do them.

And the other main reason why she got in... she's white, which will no doubt please the re-elected Mayor.

[Lilith7]

I'm rural, and I'm sure we've had a secret loony get in. She was the only woman standing, which helps greatly when voters are essentially just picking random names. Never got outed as a nutjob but all the signs were there. Even worse, she got in at the expense of a guy who'd voluntarily done things for the community because the council wouldn't do them.

And the other main reason why she got in... she's white, which will no doubt please the re-elected Mayor.

So, what leads you to think she's loony tunes, then? Sounds fascinating - is somewhat scary.

[Foal30]

I'm rural, and I'm sure we've had a secret loony get in. She was the only woman standing, which helps greatly when voters are essentially just picking random names. Never got outed as a nutjob but all the signs were there. Even worse, she got in at the expense of a guy who'd voluntarily done things for the community because the council wouldn't do them.

And the other main reason why she got in... she's white, which will no doubt please the re-elected Mayor.

What region are you?

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I'm pleased no-one in chch had any success.

Makes you wonder what is going on in the other regions that actually voted a few in, maybe they're rural areas and took advantage of the three waters dissention

That’s a bit harsh. Surely someone in Christchurch is succesful???

[king1]

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I'm pleased no-one in chch had any success. 

Makes you wonder what is going on in the other regions that actually voted a few in, maybe they're rural areas and took advantage of the three waters dissention

That’s a bit harsh. Surely someone in Christchurch is succesful???

yeah I should have qualified that - I'm pleased no-one in chch from VFF had any success.

[C_T_Russell]

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That’s a bit harsh. Surely someone in Christchurch is succesful???

yeah I should have qualified that - I'm pleased no-one in chch from VFF had any success.

I was quite surprised to see how many VFF members had got elected around NZ, even some from Vision NZ appear to have been elected.

I only voted for those that opposed 3 waters, co-governance and public transport, irrespective if they were VFF or not.
Poor voter turnout did not help the situation either.
They are saying this is the lowest voter turnout on record for local elections.
Good to see that in Auckland they have got some better people on council, the head of Auckland Transport has already stood down as a result.