local body elections

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Vote fraud fallout

Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, September 26th, 2010 - 35 comments

It looks like a Labour candidate may be involved in electoral fraud.

If this is the case the party says it will come down on them hard.

But it may also have to take a look at how local body candidates get on the Labour ticket.

Left voting guide to DCC elections

Written By: - Date published: 11:13 am, September 25th, 2010 - 57 comments

A reader has sent us a Lefty’s guide to voting in the Dunedin City Council elections. With the huge numbers of candidates and the relatively small amount of information we get on them, this kind of guide is really useful. If anyone else wants to put together a voting guide for their local bodies we’ll (almost certainly) publish it.

Where do you stand

Written By: - Date published: 8:10 pm, September 13th, 2010 - 8 comments

Obviously  tired of politicians saying one thing on the campaign trail and then doing the exact opposite when they’re in office (which reminds me of a a great George Bush joke ) the PSA have just launched a nice and simple website  Where do you stand designed to hold local government candidates to account over community […]

Brown for democracy

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, July 30th, 2010 - 25 comments

I’d vote Brown for Mayor of the Supercity. He got me with his first big policy announcement, to strengthen the role of local boards in Auckland.

That puts the ball in John Banks’ court. Will there a bidding war to restore local democracy?

Key gambles with Aucklanders’ future

Written By: - Date published: 11:51 am, July 27th, 2010 - 53 comments

John Key glibly admitted yesterday that the Supercity is “risky”. We’ve been saying it all along and the evidence is all that the Supercity will be expensive, unrepresentative, and unresponsive to local needs.

So, if it’s so risky, why the hell is Key doing it?

Blubbering into oblivion

Written By: - Date published: 4:47 pm, July 7th, 2010 - 47 comments

I had to laugh at this comment by Mako about my least favorite wingnut… More desperate anti-Brown smearing from Slater. His latest allegation is that ‘Looney Len’ wants every school to plant 500 trees a year. A waste of our precious education budget! he wails. Child slave labour! he howls. ‘Surely one of his backers […]

The Right unravels in Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, July 4th, 2010 - 43 comments

Things really are getting desperate for the Right in the super-mayor race. National and its allies keep up the attack but the public aren’t buying. Now, John Banks’ campaign is facing more right-wing candidates and is crapping itself that Stephen Tindell might enter the race.

Banks’ olympic-sized madness

Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, July 1st, 2010 - 36 comments

Desperate to gain some traction in his failing campaign, John Banks has floated the idea of Auckland hosting the Olympic Games in 2020. Current minimum estimates for the cost are $18 billion, that’s 10% of our GDP. It’s just too expensive. The Olympics is a black-hole for money that this country cannot afford. That Banks would suggest this nonsense shows how all at sea his campaign is.

Banks joins the spenders’ club

Written By: - Date published: 9:57 am, June 29th, 2010 - 41 comments

I have very mixed feelings about all this scrutiny of the spending of public figures. However, for the record, Supercity mayoral hopeful John Banks now joins the spending club.

Rules of politics

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, June 28th, 2010 - 20 comments

Rule 1: Don’t compare yourself to Jesus in any way. Didn’t work for Lennon. Won’t work for you. Rule 2: Don’t keep talking about a negative issue once its reached a conclusion. Rule 3: If you’re going to reduce your entire campaign to smearing your opponent, you better make sure your own house is in order

Yet more abuse of Urgency

Written By: - Date published: 8:17 am, June 26th, 2010 - 20 comments

This week, the Government slammed through the Policing (Involvement in Local Authority Elections) Amendment Bill. It lets Police stand for local elections under the same rules as other public servants. It’s an issue that deserves to be debated. Instead, it was rushed through by this government in yet another shameful act of disregard for transparent government and active democracy.

Auditor-General shoots down Nats’ Brown smears

Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, June 25th, 2010 - 51 comments

With the supercity campaign of their handpicked man, John Banks, in tatters, the Nats have desperately tried to smear Len Brown. Now, the Auditor-General has found there is nothing to warrant investigation. I doubt we’ll be waiting long until the next smear will be from the Nats, because they sure as hell don’t have any other shot at winning.

Transcript: John Banks to Colin Craig

Written By: - Date published: 11:06 pm, June 22nd, 2010 - 5 comments

John Banks’ supercity mayor campaign is failing. A month of smears hasn’t worked. The rot is so deep competition from the Right is emerging. The guy who spent $100 per marcher on on the anti-smacking march, Colin Craig, looks set to run. I’ve obtained a copy of the transcript of Banks’ call to Craig when he heard the news.

Herald’s Brown smears fail to stick

Written By: - Date published: 12:27 pm, June 18th, 2010 - 27 comments

The Herald will be disappointed. Over the last two weeks it has been a willing soldier in John Bank’s smear campaign against Len Brown. It’s a desperate last ditch strategy by the right as it faces defeat. And it’s not working. Even the Herald’s on online poll still has Brown beating Banks.

Ratepayers face $120K bill for Banks hagiography

Written By: - Date published: 1:48 pm, June 17th, 2010 - 22 comments

So, you’re the mayor of a council with nearly a billion dollars of debt. Your council is about to be abolished and you’re running to be the mayor of the new supercity. Your attack dogs are fixed on your opponent, who has been beating you hands-down in the race. Now what? How about getting your soon-to-be former council pay $120,000 for a book saying how great you are?

Anderton clear leader in Christchurch

Written By: - Date published: 12:14 pm, June 15th, 2010 - 28 comments

I was quite surprised by Jim Anderton’s decision to stand for mayor of Christchurch. And I had thought that his decision not to step down from Parliament until the next election was a mistake that would haunt him in the mayoral campaign. But it looks like I got it wrong. A UMR poll shows that Anderton is preferred over Tory incumbent Bob Parker by a two to one margin.

Strong showing for Len Brown

Written By: - Date published: 11:22 am, May 16th, 2010 - 9 comments

Sam Cash writes it’s good news for Auckland with Len Brown opening up a strong lead over John Banks. Len Brown’s campaign seems to have been quietly gathering momentum since he launched his insurgency last year.

Labour to restore democracy in Canterbury

Written By: - Date published: 8:21 am, April 28th, 2010 - 78 comments

Last month, the Government abolished the democratically-elected Canterbury Regional Council known as Environment Canterbury. Not only were the current elected officials booted out, Cantabarians were denied their right to elect the next council in the upcoming local body elections. Now, Labour has pledged to restore democracy to Canterbury.

Dead even in Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 9:22 am, April 27th, 2010 - 11 comments

Sam Cash takes a look at John Banks’ latest poll and doesn’t find too much to crow about for the Mayor for Remuera – noting he has only managed to draw even with Len Brown in spite of the huge profile lead he has over his challenger.

C&R’s takeover attempt

Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, April 16th, 2010 - 19 comments

Voters of the Auckland region should be very concerned with the news that the Auckland City CBD-based Citrat political party looks set to run a single whipped slate of candidates at this year’s supercity election. The fear is that the C&R CBD old boys are gonna do in Waitakere, Manukau, Franklin, Rodney and the North Shore what they did in Otahuhu. Talk about crushing local voice.

Supercity: Who’s gonna vote?

Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, February 23rd, 2010 - 21 comments

Recent polls highlight how important turnout will be at this year’s local body election.

Sam Cash takes a look at recent history and how attitudes to the supercity and the themes of this election could increase participation.

Banks gets bitten

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 pm, February 2nd, 2010 - 31 comments

In a sure sign that the political phone is off the hook for John ‘Mayor for Remuera’ Banks, the deputy mayor of Rodney John Kirikiri has a scathing letter in yesterday’s Herald criticising the super-mayoral candidate’s cynical electioneering. After a couple of high-profile high-cost staff hires (he has ex 3 News political reporter Scott Campbell […]

Franklin & Papakura want out, Hide says ‘no way’

Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, January 20th, 2010 - 10 comments

The people of Franklin and Papakura, who overwhelming oppose becoming part of the National/ACT government’s Supercity experiment, have been denied their request to keep their own councils. Instead, Papakura will be forced into the Supercity while Franklin will be carved up between the Supercity, Waikato Council, and Hauraki Council. The people of Franklin and the rest […]

Bhatnagar to knock out Hide?

Written By: - Date published: 12:46 pm, January 16th, 2010 - 22 comments

There is a story in today’s Herald noting that current C&R Hobson councillor Aaron Bhatnagar is not going to stand for the new super-council. He is taking on the running of Banks’ faltering mayoral campaign and has been offered a job in the new mayoral office should they turn around Len Brown’s momentum. But the […]

Granny is surprised, no-one else is.

Written By: - Date published: 5:29 pm, January 3rd, 2010 - 12 comments

John Banks is steadily dropping away from a possibility of gaining the Auckland super-city mayoralty. A Herald online poll has John Banks falling to third in preference behind Steven Tindall – who has not even declared that he is interested or would run. Len Brown is far higher in preference. Self-selecting online polls are about […]

Good Xmas news for Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 10:55 am, December 21st, 2009 - 11 comments

The UMR poll for the Auckland super-city mayoral race is interesting reading. The headline difference (PDF) of 11% towards Len Brown over John Banks has been extensively reported.  The poll of 482 people, while small, is even more interesting when you see the breakdown of figures – and a lot worse for John Banks. The […]