If you find it coincidental that this site was down from 21st September until today, well then perhaps you should consider on what date the local government elections voting papers were sent out!

Yes, folks, lynnepope.net went offline and instead, a vote for Heather Tanguay image was here. Did I do that? NO! I am absolutely disgusted that local government politics has stooped to the level of people attacking and defacing websites in order to promote their preferred Mayor. It should come as no news to you that I am not standing for Mayor of Palmerston North. I am not even standing for re-election to the Palmerston North City Council. I am standing for election to Horizons and if the person(s) responsible for defacing my website are reading this, may I remind you that Horizons is a separate entity and HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS! Kindly play your stupid games elsewhere and leave me out of your dirty politics.

This last month has seen me shaking my head in disbelief as I read the local newspapers. There has been so much misinformation that I really doubt the wisdom of any of us thinking we are getting “news” or factual information when we read the paper these days. A pattern seems to be emerging whereby one local newspaper makes front page “news” with sensationalised stories that have little bearing on fact, then a few days later “corrects” the story with a small update. This appears to be making some councillors and councillor wannabes very excited and its clear that the election campaign, for many, is already well under way. I’m already getting sick of the electioneering - and we have the best part of nine months to go!

Palmerston North City Council issued this press release:

The Local Government Commission will decide on the sort of representation Palmerston North will have at next year’s local authority elections when it holds a one day hearing in the city next week. The commission will hear submissions, appeals and objections to the decision the City Council made earlier this year when it supported city wide voting, a community ward for Ashhurst but decided to retain the number of Councillors at 15.

In all 30 people have lodged objections to the Council’s decision and these will be heard at the Seminar Room, Te Manawa from 10-4.30pm on Thursday, September 28.

Since my inauguration in 2003, I have been asked by many people, “What is it like, being a councillor?” Recently, a couple of people have e-mailed me, asking me to sum up what exactly a councillor does. These are really two different questions but as so many people have asked them in the same conversation, I will endeavour to answer both here.

I have had a question for the major political parties, which I thought appropriate to ask in the run-up to the General Election. I decided it was best to send my question by e-mail, not least because any response is then written and can be followed up if necessary.

In case you also have questions you would like put to the parties, I am listing the e-mail addresses of many of them here. Note: these are in no particular order.

policy@greens.org.nz - Greens

info@unitedfuture.org.nz - United Future

info@nzfirst.org.nz - NZ First

hq@national.org.nz - National

While walking down the street, a politician is hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven, and he is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

“Welcome to heaven,” says St. Peter. “Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see such a high official around these parts, you see, and so we’re not sure what to do with you.”

“No problem,” says the politician, “just let me in” .

“Well, I’d like to, but I have orders from ‘on high.’ What we do is have you spend a day in hell, and a day in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.”

The Department of Internal Affairs produces some interesting information about local government. Just in case any of you may get these questions on a Trivial Pursuit challenge, I thought I would share…

In both 2001 and 2004, the sitting Mayor was defeated. 2001 saw 4 Mayoral candidates, in 2004 we had 6.

The average number of registered voters for each of the 15 council positions was 3,398 in 2001 and 3,439 in 2004.

In 2001, 40 candidates stood for election to council, in 2004 it was 37, but in 2001 only 53% of sitting councillors were re-elected, whereas in the last election, 80% were re-elected.

At 7.30pm tonight the new council was inaugurated. Since the election on 9th October I have been kept pretty busy with workshops and meetings. We had a meeting on 13th and spent all day on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th in “retreat” at Wharerata discussing the structure of the new council. On Monday, 18th, we met again to finalise some details. Unfortunately, these sessions were not well structured and normal process was not adhered to, making these hours seem more like a talkfest than an orderly way of reaching consensus.

Results of Election, 9 October 2004 (those elected appear in BOLD)

I wrote an article for publication in the student newspaper, Chaff. It was published on pg.12 Issue 22 which came out on 13th September.

Why you should be on the electoral role and vote in the city council elections.

1. Enrolling takes only a few minutes. You can pick up a pack at the council and post offices, or even do it online at www.elections.org.nz
2. Voting is important. If you don’t vote for the people you want to represent you then you will just have to put up with others you may not want making the decisions which affect you.
3. Because you can!

Unsure that anything city council does actually affects you? Well, consider this…