Mayoralty
- Jonathan Larsen.
Kaiwaka-Mangawhai ward
- Craig Jepson
- Rachael Williams
- Luke Canton
Otamatea ward
- Denise Rogers
- Mike Schimanski
Wairoa ward
- Gordon Lambeth
- Jan Beatty
- Rodney Field
Minority groups will always claim “tyranny
of the majority”, even though their rights are protected in the NZ Bill of
Rights Act.
We find it abhorrent that there are
candidates supporting a form of governance where they presume to know better
than those they pretend to represent, and believe dividing a society by race is
unity. We call that, tyranny of the
minority.
The contest in Otamatea is being
watched closely, where two council seats are up for grabs.
The retirement of Ron Manderson has
left a space open for a fresh face, but the position of sitting councillor Mark
Vincent is also under threat.
Mark Vincent has consistently voted with
Eryn Wilson-Collins (who is not seeking re-election) and Pera Paniora (who
having lost the Maori seat is seeking re-election in the Wairoa ward). It is
fair to say that voting block has been on the what some describe as the “woke” social-issues
end of the political spectrum.
In LETTERBOX issue #22 (No 2024) we
reported Mark Vincent had taken to wearing a Mickey Mouse T-shirt to council
meetings. He said it was his way of protesting about “the worrying state of
democracy” in the organisation.
Ironically, in October 2020 Mark
Vincent had little
We believe it is appropriate for Cr
Mark Vincent to brand himself in Mickey Mouse attire, given his Mickey Mouse
views about local democracy.