Don’t you love watching people take credit for other people's work? When I was on Council, this used to happen a lot and still happens today, with councillors, mayors and politicians saying how great they are with all the projects that they have been doing.  Yet everyone forgets about when the project was put on the books and how much effort was needed to get it there.

As an example, Wally Redwood, a past Whangarei District Councillor, first mooted the putting a bridge across the harbour a good 20 years ago, if not longer, in fact in roughly the same location as the Te Pohe bridge now.  Think about how many councillors and mayors have taken credit for that action since then.

Good things take time, which is a reason many people leave council or forget who was behind key advancements in our city. 'Good things take time' is a saying as old as it is true. Inside council there are many wheels and many cogs all spinning at different speeds. It takes a long time to align those wheels to get them all spinning at the same time. I do get that some people want things to happen instantly and they get very frustrated that they haven’t, and then throw their toys out of the cot, however we need to respect processes. Councillors are obliged to measure twice and cut once.  

In the business world, a boss makes a decision and the workers make it happen. In a large business, this directive can take 2 to 3 days before it has come into effect, yet there is debate about whether councils should be regarded as businesses. They can employ over 300 staff and they typically have one boss (the CEO). What slows councils down, though is not the CEO, nor the hundreds of staff: it is indecision by the mayor and councillors (who operate like a board of directors).

Right now we have people within NZ who are considering putting their hand up for local politics. I say this is great. Politicians really need to be a cut above, though. We need our local body representatives show 

• good leadership,
• good vision,
• be prepared to work together
• be prepared to firmly say NO and YES

Are you interested in making a difference?  Are you good at making decisions? Are you great working with people? Then Northland's four councils need you to put your name forward.

By the way, you may all be wondering about the remuneration which councillors get. Here are the most recent pay scales of all our councils: