Free public meetings will be hosted by Kāpiti Coast Grey Power for a chance to meet the election candidates.
Kāpiti Coast has provided an interesting local government election this time, according to Roger Booth, President of Kāpiti Coast Grey Power, who will be hosting four public meetings, with the first at Paraparaumu Memorial Hall this Friday at 2pm.
“And when have we ever before had as many as 87 candidates standing for Kāpiti Coast local body positions, plus two more for Greater Wellington.
“When a city like Lower Hutt struggles to find enough people to fill the positions, why has Kāpiti unearthed so many candidates? Grey Power needs to remain impartial, but a local media spokesperson suggests that when you get lots of candidates it reflects dissatisfaction with what is going on. I guess the coming results will see whether the spokesperson was on the right track,” says Mr Booth.
He says one of the features of the Kāpiti Coast political scene is the Community Boards – five in number. “When you have 38 candidates, a good selection for each of five boards, it is actually a pity that these folk can’t speak at the meetings. But the meetings will each probably stretch close to three hours anyway, displaying the speaking skills and ideas of the Mayoral, District Wide, Maori Ward, and Greater Wellington Regional Council candidates. But many of the relevant Community Board candidates will be at meetings within their portions of the Kāpiti Coast to be introduced, and available to chat with citizens after the respective meetings.”
The presence this time of citizen groups backing candidates makes the scene a little different. “They are not really political parties like our traditional ones, over the years these sort of groups come and go, but their thoughts will affect results. And they are talking a lot about rates levels now, and planned for the future,” says Mr Booth.
He says the emergence of a Maori ward this time as another real feature.
Mr Booth, who was Deputy Mayor of Kāpiti 10 years ago, recalls some representation of iwi on Council committees in his time on the local Council. “But these were iwi representatives, from one or other of Kāpiti’s three key iwi. This time the chosen Maori ward Councillor will need to be speaking for all the local iwi, and finding some way to be able to genuinely do this. It will not be easy.”
The Paraparaumu meeting will be followed by two meetings in Waikanae, at the Waikanae Community Centre. The first on Tuesday September 2 at 10am, and the second in the evening, ‘especially for those who are at work during the day,’ on Wednesday 3 September at 6pm.
Then the fourth meeting will be in the Ōtaki Memorial Hall at 2pm on Friday 5 September.
Mr Booth and Kāpiti Coast Grey Power urge citizens to attend meetings.
Meeting details:
When: Friday 29 August
Time: 2pm-4pm
Where: Paraparaumu Memorial Hall
When: Tuesday 2 September
Time: 10am-12 noon
Where: Waikanae Community Centre
When: Wednesday 3 September
Time: 6pm-8pm
Where: Waikanae Community Centre
When: Friday 5 September
Time: 2pm-4pm
Where: Ōtaki Memorial Hall
NOTE: Mayoral, KCDC District Wide Councillor, GWRC Kāpiti Councillor, and Kāpiti Maori Ward Councillor candidates have been invited to present at all four meetings.
Paraparaumu and Paekākāriki-Raumati Councillor candidates to present at the Paraparaumu meeting
Waikanae Councillor candidates to present at the Waikanae meeting
Ōtaki Councillor candidates to present at the Ōtaki meeting
In addition the Kāpiti Coast Community Board candidates have been invited to attend their respective meetings, where they will be introduced.