Less Interest and Less Influence As Democracy Slides In Rotorua

Originally published at
http://themud.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/less-interest-and-less-influence-as-democracy-slides-in-rotorua/

Democracy seems to be on a slippery slope in Rotorua. That is one conclusion a reader might derive from the recently published document Rotorua Social Monitor.

This social trends report is funded by ratepayers and a Rotorua District Council press release says it “has been compiled by the council using the latest statistical information from government and other sources. The document provides analyses and insights into social trends in the district, and is part of a series of publications produced by RDC to track social trends and assist with community planning.”

Positive trends highlighted include: the numbers of school kids getting into trouble at school (down), notifications to Child, Youth and Family (down), the percentage of people who feel the public has “at least” some influence on RDC decisions (up). Negatives include: a higher than national rate of infant deaths, higher than national rate of those on the dole, and a drop of people rating community spirit “as good or very good”.

On their own these numbers are, well, numbers and sort of interesting if you are a policy wonk (hands up here).

DEMOCRACY INACTION

The numbers are plain damning when combined with the least publicised section of the report.

This section is labelled Democracy. And you could be forgiven for asking “what has that got to do with the council?” Sorry, for that negative comment.

It has everything to do with council, more so in the lead up to the local body elections. You see, the numbers in the Democracy section – effectively how council managers are responding to ratepayers, how councillors are listening to voters and whether people have confidence in the Mayor.

The sad reality is that fewer and fewer people give a damn about elections in Rotorua – any elections be they local or national. As the report states: “The local turnout at central government elections is an indicator of the level of interest and participation by Rotorua residents in public affairs.”

The numbers for the Rotorua turnout for national elections fell to 75 per cent in 2011 from 80 per cent in 2008. This figure is lower than the 77 per cent in 2002. “Historically, the turnout has been over 80 per cent.”

Regarding local elections, the report states “Voter turnout at local body elections is an indicator of civic engagement and general community participation in public affairs.”

Voter turnout for the Rotorua District Council election fell to 42.9% in 2010, compared to 43.9 in 2007, and 60% in 1992. Although voter turnout for local government elections has fallen throughout New Zealand since the 1980s, the report notes that turnout in Rotorua has “generally been below the national average for the past several elections”.

OFF THE BOIL

We could have a field day analysing the reasons why Rotorua people are laggards in voting. However, the numbers around “confidence” and “satisfaction” show the mayor and councillors are pointedly off-the-boil.

The percentage who rated the mayor and councillors as “very/fairly good” at 46 per cent was below the Peer Group of 54 per cent and the National Averages of 53 per cent. Interestingly enough, residents more likely to rate the performance of the mayor and councillors as very/fairly good are women or shorter term residents.

It should be noted that the percentage of rated the mayor and councillors performance as “very good” or “fairly good” at 46 per cent in 2012 was similar to 2011 compared to the previous year.

However, from Mayor Kevin Winters’ viewpoint the key comparison here is that this 46 per cent approval figure is vastly below the 75 per cent figure recorded in 2002.

This is when Kevin Winters was first elected and in an interview with The Mud, the Mayor placed emphasis on his achievements – and there been a lot – since 2002. It seems the electorate just don’t get it.

NO INFLUENCE MEANS NO INTEREST

Some of the answers may also be supplied in the topic Community involvement in Council Decisions.

“Research has found that meaningful community involvement in the public decision-making process is important for achieving sustainable outcomes. Community involvement leads to a sense of shared ownership in the development of the district,” the report said. So how did we do in Rotorua?

The percentage of respondents who feel the public has at least some influence on Council decisions decreased to 40 per cent in 2012 from 47 per cent in 2011, the lowest figure in over a decade. Residents more likely to feel the public has a small influence/no influence are:
• residents aged 60 years or over,
• longer term residents, those residing in the District more than 10 years.
“It appears that South Area residents are slightly less likely to feel this way, than other area residents,”

Unfortunately figures for 2002 on this aspect are not included in the Social Wellbeing 2012 Full Document. But a bar graph with this topic indicates a 20 per cent drop since a plateau of around 60 per cent in the period 2001-2005.

MESSAGE FROM THE MUD

The message of failure is clear for the mayor and the councillors who have held positions during this period – a period when fewer and fewer people have turned out for elections and more and more people have become dissatisfied with their ability to influence decisions.

ENDS

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