Change: do you want it?

Many of us hate change, especially when it is thrust upon us.  Sometimes we need change, though, to put Northland first.

Consider the way we cook lobsters. When a chef slowly brings the pot up to boil, it’s too late for the lobster.  Sometimes local government works a bit like this. There is the saying Those who change survive, and those who don’t die.  Many councils are put together with individuals who want their own way and refuse to change and don’t communicate well with each other.  This causes a council to stagnate and produce no new ideas and no new action plans. At election time, we can remove those unresponsive councillors.

In my view councils need to have vision and those who wish to be on council need to be prepared beforehand.  Yes a council is made of individuals and yes those individuals need to represent their community, however they also need to work as a team. If they can’t work within a team, then there is no place on council for them.

Over the past year, I have been talking about different aspects of our community where change is needed. The concept of change keeps pointing back to our leaders on council.  Over the next three months you will hear those same councillors talking about what they want to do on Whangarei District Council and how they can change the world... yet have they?  All of the projects completed to date have been in the planning pipeline for over 20 years.

It is time for a fresh new lot of community and business people to stand up.  Change is needed for Whangarei and Kaipara, where some feel that local government is past the point of no return.  But is it? We will hear from those who are young, who will tell us that youth is important, and it is.  We will hear from those who have run big companies, telling us that we need to work like a business, and we should. 

What kind of perspective do you think councillors should bring? Should your councillors come from a business background or an educational background? Do you want philanthropists, youth, people from minority cultures, people of a certain gender? Should your councillors be Whangarei or Kaipara born and bred? Should councillors be of a certain age?

Tell me – is there an archetypal councillor?