16 September – 8 October
We are now in election mode – welcome to the season where candidates put up their signs, come looking for your votes by door knocking and seek out photo opportunities.
Elections give residents a vital opportunity to consider the opinions of our elected representatives – and those who want to replace them – on issues that impact on us.
The work of councils, councillors and board members is vital, as is robust local body coverage – and we are proud to have brought it back to Waipā.
The News plans to lead the way on election coverage by getting you to help us set the agenda. We have a good idea about the key issues which concern voters – transport, infill housing, parks and reserves and where council money is spent. We look forward to readers telling us what they see as the major issues – by going to cambridgenews.nz and teawamutunews.nz and clicking on “contact” at the foot of the page. We’ll run surveys through the election period too.
If you are standing for council, congratulations – make sure we have your contact details. If you are thinking of standing or want advice, watch out for a Local Government New Zealand online session which Good Local Media editor Roy Pilott will host next Wednesday.
The Good Local stance on candidates’ platforms will be quite simple. If you have a statement about your ambitions and policies, call advertising manager Janine Davy on 027 287 0005. Policy statements and thank you notes do not meet our criteria of Letters to the Editor.
Good Local reporters will not be working as candidate publicity agents – but where we see a story, we will look for the opinions of candidates. And, to be clear, saying you’ll wait to see what the public wants will be simply recorded as “gave no opinion”.
Voters have an opportunity to influence how their community is run once every three years. If you want to be informed, follow The News.
- Throughout the election we’ll be asking readers for their opinions. To kick off our campaign, our first question is, if the election was held today, who would you vote for as mayor? Cast your vote.
