Earthquake election result shaky - Christchurch City Council, mayoral race questions

Christchurch will be led by a minority mayor again from Saturday. Some 25 to 30 percent of registered voter support for a winner has been indicated by recent polls. But this is not good enough, says one mayoral candidate.

Our Water Our City independent, Rik Tindall wants the incumbent mayor to go further than encouraging statements about Single Transferable Vote (STV) in local elections, to making a real commitment.

“STV would mean that after the second and third choice vote counts, the elected mayor then has claim to an authentic majority, which adds credibility to their full term of office,” Tindall says. “Mayor Parker needs to promise delivery on proportional representation now, or clarify his position otherwise.”

STV in the mayoral contest would give fairer opportunity for all candidates to make their case for electoral support, as no votes would then stand risk of wastage.

“A much more democratic platform is the result, with proper debate along the way,” says Tindall. “There are many important issues that never get an airing under the usual media treatment of first-past-the-post elections; I could name many.”

Tindall sees the quality of the civil defence response in Christchurch’s recent earthquake as a primary example where improvement is always helpful.

“There needs to be room for discussion, if people are to be kept safe at all times,” he says. “What we saw last month was an override of the emergency service response, which thankfully proved non-fatal this time, but could not be in an escalating crisis.”

“The Mayor departed from the team in which he is one actor, and assumed a service command role for himself,” Tindall says. “That was totally unsafe.”

Tindall cites the 5 September helicopter flight to inspect quake-damaged suburbs, when Police Inspector Craig McKay, Operations Services Manager for Canterbury District, was left behind in favour the Mayor’s wife, Joanna Parker-Nicholls. His wife was taking photographs that day, Parker told NewsTalkZB last Friday.

“Bob Parker blames the Airforce for this shoddy flight crewing decision, but it was his own and completely unacceptable,” Tindall suggests. “A more democratic electoral system is essential for saving lives, into the future, through transparent public accountability, and with urgency,” he concludes.

ENDS

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