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Running for cover

Regular readers will know that I'm working very hard to get the public engaged in our local body elections this year and to make sure the right people get elected.

My battles with the South Waikato District Council are many and well documented over a long period of time. Now is the time to hold them accountable for their actions and inactions, which is exactly what I am going to do.

Under the existing system, councilors and mayors, once elected, can pretty much do whatever they want for the three years that follow. There are no really effective methods for holding these people accountable for their broken promises until the next election rolls around.

Well this *is* the next election and it's time to clean out the dead wood.

Here in the South Waikato it's pretty clear that most of the current mob of councilors have done an awful job and we can't afford not to invoke change via the ballot box.

My role in this election is to ensure that voters get the maximum amount of information so as to exercise their votes responsibly and effectively. Far too often, in the past, people have simply re-elected incuments because they recognise their faces or names on the electoral leaflet.

We can't afford to do that this time so I'm hoping that through my information and educational efforts, they'll be far better equipped to choose wisely.

It's pretty easy to tell that there's a strong desire for change in this district, with a really good number of new candidates throwing their hats in the ring. The problem is now simply one of deciding which of these candidates has what it takes to do the job properly. We do not want an "out of the frying-pan into the fire" situation to occur.

So, I've been out with my camera, filming some of the "meet the candidates" meetings that have been held around here.

Unfortunately this stuff is, for the most part, pretty dry and boring. A bunch of talking heads making the same old promises which are often more aspirational than practical. That's the way it's always been in the past, it's the way it is now and it's likely the way it will always be.

Not good enough.

That's why I'm also interviewing all the candidates who are up for it (most of the new ones are) and posing some really tough questions to them. This is a job-interview situation and I'll be treating it as such.

My questions are designed to give people insight into the candidate's ability to deliver on the promises they're making. Talk is cheap so we need to be sure that these people are doing more than espousing aspirational rhetoric.

I'll also be trying to reveal the more personal side of these people. The things that make them "real people" and which may give us some insight into how they will perform as a representative and part of a team on which we will all be reliant for the next three years.

The other aspect of these interviews is that they need to be "not boring". I want people of all ages and persuasions to watch this stuff and take it in. This means, given the effects that social media has had on our brains, that the videos are short, sharp, to the point and somewhat entertaining.

I don't know if I can pull that off -- no matter how much lipstick you put on a pig it's always going to remain a pig and that's what politics really is.

The most interesting aspect of my activities right now is that only one of the incumbent councilors has agreed to be interviewed -- and even she seems to be getting cold feet.

Only two of the current lot bothered to even respond to my emails requesting an interview, the rest (including the Mayor) couldn't even be arsed to respond. This is the level of contempt that will hopefully see this lot tossed out on their ears.

Even the public meetings that have been organised by the local ratepayers group, with a view to allowing all candidates to pitch themselves to the public, have been largely boycotted by the incumbents.

It seems that they know they've done such an awful job they do not wish to be held accountable in a public forum. I've also been told that they don't want to attend because they knew I would be there with my camera. There is no room for video-phobic local politicians!

Stay tuned, the next couple of weeks should be something between a farce and an hillarious fiasco -- at least as far as our current council is concerned. How do you pitch for the public's vote if you're too scared to appear in public for fear that Mr Simpson might capture your image on his camera?

I hope you'll find the videos that are to come both interesting and amusing and it will be fascinating to see whether one man and his camera can foment the degree of change that is so clearly needed right now.

Carpe Diem folks!

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