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by Paul Taylor, Lakes Weekly Bulletin

Less than two weeks to go until we find out who will be the next mayor of Queenstown Lakes, and who will be sitting around the council table with him.

Will Glyn Lewers survive to serve for a second term, like his predecessors Jim Boult and Vanessa van Uden? Will it be fourth time lucky for John Glover standing for a seat around the council table, or will Nik Kiddle build on his pretty impressive 2019 run? He gained 3,999 votes, second to Boult’s 6,517. Or perhaps newcomer Darren Rewi will take the chains, or even the wild cards played by Al Angus and Daniel Shand will strike a chord with voters.

Honestly, it’s hard to call I reckon. It’s clear the relationship between this council and at least some sections of the community is broken. The councillors themselves are pretty divided, and as a collective, when they are a collective, they struggle to get answers or influence the direction of the executive team. The difficulties they faced convincing staffers to properly look at the options to build council offices in Frankton, rather than downtown, was a clear example of this. All too often it appears councillors are told it’s too early to have proper input into a process, and then suddenly it’s too late.

So, with all this in mind, and following on from all sorts of major problems this current council has faced like the rates rises (a New Zealand wide problem), the Shotover Treatment Plant debacle and other contentious issues, the outrage has been deafening, but often in Queenstown the majority is not as vocal as the minority. If you read the negative comments on Facebook, you’ll see it’s generally the same 100-or-so people, so perhaps not a real barometer of voting sentiment. Jim Boult appeared deeply unpopular online the last time he ran, particularly in Wānaka, but he aced it. The candidate who best represents ongoing prosperity and business interests often wins in this district.

All the best to all the candidates and thank you putting yourself out there for us to judge on the ballot papers.

Whatever the outcome, with Mike Theelen standing down and a new CEO on the way in, there will be change on all sides (with that in mind, I do think the whole CEO recruitment process should wait until after the election, as a show of good faith).

How about we all shake hands on a deal - real listening from council, including those around the table and the executive team, to all voices in the community, and more transparency, in exchange for zero abuse of elected members and staffers, along with an acceptance that they often have to make unpopular decisions, in difficult circumstances, without a crystal ball, some with a different ideology than your own, and with very constrained budgets.

Don’t forget to vote!