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The winner, by a landslide minority

Democracy is see as a good thing.

Whether it's pure democracy, as seen in places like Switzerland where referenda are the tool of choice or whether it's a representative democracy as found in most other Western nations, this political system is designed to ensure the best outcome for the majority of people.

However, its detractors sometimes refer to it as "mob rule" and cite the risks that minorities will be marginalised in favour of those who make up the majority.

As has often been said, democracy isn't perfect but it's the best system we have.

Proof of its imperfection was seen this week in the district of South Waikato where the country's worst mayor (as determined by a survey of ratepayers) was re-elected to the position, despite more than two thirds of voters making it clear that they didn't want him.

How can that be?

Sadly, our local body elections are still run and won on a "first past the post" basis which means that people can be elected to the position of Mayor even if they only receive a tiny fraction of the vote. In the case of Mayor Gary Petley that was just 30 percent.

Last time he won a landslide with almost 60 percent of the vote but this time the community clearly signaled their desire for change -- unfortunately the democratic system in place simply failed to deliver.

The huge flaw with FPP voting is that the winner needs just one vote more than their nearest opponent to win.

In the case of the South Waikato, even though there was a very clear desire to oust the mayor, that huge swing away from the incumbent was split between two other candidates. In the end it was almost a tie, the winning margin being less than 100 votes in favour of Petley.

You know there's been a systemic failure when the country's worst mayor gets re-elected with less than a third of the votes cast.

On my regular walk through town the other day you could feel the disappointment in the air. Those who stopped to chat with me all expressed their sorrow, frustration and even outrage that they're lumbered with the same useless mayor for another three years.

How could this be fixed?

Well I belive that local body elections should be run on a single transferrable vote (STV) basis. This would produce much fairer results that are more truly representative of the will of the people. As a nation we already decided that FPP was a bust for our national elections so why do we still use it for local body ones?

I have grave concerns for the next three years in this district.

While job losses are increasing at a disturbing pace, with layoffs at the local paper mill and the closure of a plywood plant, the Mayor seems more intent on creating more social housing so as to attract the unemployed.

With no really effective plans to attract new businesses and the jobs they would provide, it appears that the South Waikato is being geared up to become a new "riviera for the unemployed". With an abundance of low-cost housing, an unemployment rate already twice the national average and an economy highly vulnerable to the fortunes of just two industries we're setting ourselves up to become a disaster. If you want to enjoy the benefits of living on the dole with little chance you'll actually find a job then the South Waikato is now the destination of choice, thanks to the policies of our mayor and his council.

On the bright side, we do have some new faces in council and some of the dead wood of the past has been ousted but as has been clearly demonstrated before, the mayor is given to sideline any councilors who don't simply fall into line and support his own policies. Those who dare to rock the boat will be sent to the back of the room and never given any significant authority or recognition within his little circle of supporters.

I had hoped that a new mayor and mostly new council would have signaled a fresh start for the district and that priority would be given to attracting new businesses to diversify the local economy, create new jobs and foster prosperity. Sadly, that's just not going to happen now and I shudder to think what things will look like at the end of this three year term.

Oh well, c'est la vie I guess.

Carpe Diem folks!

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