One of the unfortunate outcomes of local body politics over the past 12 months in particular are the rise of the so called “independents” and many are beginning to ask, independent of what ?
The answer is clear… independent of voters, and that can be the only conclusion. I was at a recent local body debate and the aspiring council candidate declared: “nobody tells me how to vote”.
This seemed contrary to the fact this person was featuring in all the favoured candidate literature with Phil Mauger and the recipient of funds from the same person.
The favoured “independent” has a greater slush fund to spend on advertising, but you would be naïve to think Phil would not be expecting something in return, and that could only be votes in Council.
So what do we call an independent councillor who is not clearly in league with others on a consistent basis, maybe an ‘independent independent’ or ‘true independent’.
It is easy to identify what we shall call the ‘true independent’, as he/she is the one who is targeted because they do not fit the favoured profile. This was exemplified by the decision to spend yet more money ($150 million plus on the stadium without any idea where the money is coming from).
All of Phil’s ‘independents’ either on or hoping to get onto Council later ran the same inaccurate voting data, falsely claiming these (the true independents) voted against the Te Kaha going ahead when they in fact voted against spending the additional money as a stadium could still have been built without it.
These favoured candidates also have been vigorously attacking the Council and how it has become detached from the people.
Ironically one of the reasons for this malaise has been created by history of Peoples Choice and Independent Citizens battling each other and voting along party lines. As a result of a backlash against party politics in local government, it has been easy for some to neatly slide sideways under an ‘independent’ tag.
Have a look at the voting patterns in the past year, and only a couple of ‘true independents’ stand out for not adhering to the populist views.
So here we have another local body election, and credit to those standing under the Peoples Choice or Independent Citizens banner, at least they are honest. As to those Mauger loyalists making declarations of independence to get a seat on council, your piper will be calling the tune.
If there is an absence of true independents, we will be back to the bad old days of the A and B teams battling for dominance around the table and voter considerations only mattering every three years.
The next trend will be to have nothing after your name on the voting papers.
Making a declaration of independence will have voters laughing at the ballot box.