Last night I attended a Meet the Candidates evening for those locals aspiring to represent the General Roll in the 2022 local Government elections.
Our next local government election is on Saturday 8 October 2022.
The elections are held every three years by postal vote.
The meeting was held at Ōhau Community Hall where maybe 70 or 100 people attended.
The session was well-run, with each candidate given a few minutes to speak followed by up to 5 questions from the crowd.
This was very illuminating, as a couple of candidates were standing on a single, sometimes not very clear, issue and were not well informed on other topics.
Several candidates spoke clearly and coherently with a firm grasp of issues and the ability to formulate useful responses.
Visit Policy.nz to see candidate responses on various issues:
Enter your address at Policy.nz and you’ll see which elections you get to vote in, with the rival candidates’ pitches side by side. You can see each candidate’s positions together, or sort by topic.
Also see Candidates profiles - Horowhenua District Council and Manawatū-Whanganui Regional Council List of Candidates (PDF).
Our Candidates are:
Waiopehu General Ward (2 people to be elected)
- Rogan Boyle
- Barry Aylward
- Jonathan Procter
Barry Aylward was not well-informed and was not a clear or coherent speaker.
Rogan Boyle mentioned his relative youth and wants to represent younger and more progressive members of the community.
Jonathan Procter, a Māori academic, is a Professor at Massey in the area of Natural Hazards. He spoke very clearly on environmental topics relevant to our region.
Horizons Regional Council (2 people to be elected)
- Emma Clarke
- Donald Hayes
- Sam Ferguson
Donald Hayes was not well-informed and was not a clear or coherent speaker.
Emma Clarke and Sam Ferguson are both sitting Councillors who spoke clearly and coherently on topics currently facing our region.
Horowhenua District Council Mayor (1 person to be elected)
- Sam Jennings (Current Councillor)
- Victoria Kaye-Simmons (Current Councillor)
- Bernie Wanden (Current Mayor)
All 3 candidates spoke coherently. Sam Jennings spoke about issues with budgets and expenses. Victoria Kaye-Simmons talked about the importance of communication. Bernie Wanden talked about what Horowhenua District Council has achieved in his term as Mayor.
