Bill Dalton

I am beginning to wonder what we New Zealand males are becoming. Firstly we hear that the All Blacks are being offered counselling to help them cope with being beaten out of the Rugby World Cup in the quarter finals. I have to say, that to me, is as bizarre as it gets.

These guys are supposedly fit, tough professionals. Professional sportsmen – and sport is about winning and of course losing. Sure they choked – sure they lost – but surely they can put the loss behind them and move on. My view is that calling in shrinks is pathetic.

And now we have got Trevor Mallard – Labour’s bovver boy. Labour’s big tough mouth who is great at dishing out the dirt on others. Clearly he can give it but he can’t take it.

One personal taunt, of exactly the same nature as he hands out and he loses his rag. He calls Tau Henare out of the house and whacks him. I must say Mallard must be equally pathetic at using his fists as he is at using his brain because Henare never had a mark on him.

So what is the outcome from all this? Trevor is to have counselling. Poor little Trevor has been under stress lately so he needs a shrink to hold his hand. His marriage has broken up and his Dad has died. Well sorry Trevor but about 60% of marriages break up and sooner or later we all lose our parents and we don’t go around thumping people or having to seek counselling.

Is this the sort of person we want as a Cabinet Minister – as a leader – as one who makes decisions that affect us all?

It could be argued, of course, that Mallard is an example of what the New Zealand male is becoming. I mean – if the All Blacks need counselling because they lose a test match – I suppose it follows that a Cabinet Minister thinks it is OK to seek counselling when he loses his temper.

We seem to be losing the concept of personal responsibility – of being personally responsible for our own actions. The All Blacks were over rotated – over reconditioned – we’ve heard it all before. Mallard had left his wife, lost his father and was under stress.

Excuses excuses. Whatever happened to “Pick yourself up – dust yourself off and start all over again.”

Well – week one of my “city councillor” career, and how has it been?

I’ve got to tell you, I thought, this is a breeze. In fact very little happened at all. A few emails came in – a few tentative meeting dates – it was all pretty cruisy. And then yesterday.

The first meeting with the boss – Mayor Barbara Arnott and, riding shotgun for her, her loyal CEO Neil Taylor.

And if those two set out to confuse, frighten and intimidate the three new councillors – then they can feel well satisfied. It would be all to easy for a new councilor, having had a meeting with these two power brokers, to feel that the whole system of local body governance was beyond them.

Standing orders – committees – sub-committees – members code of conduct – conflicts of interest – compliance – register of interests – seminars – training – professional development – respective responsibilities – the list of topics was mind boggling.

All I want to do is serve the city in a governance role and know where the cafeteria is for a coffee and bun afterwards.

Frankly I felt like a kid straight out of school – having his first interview with the boss. And I suppose that is exactly what it was.

But what it did do was prove to me, what a complex undertaking the governance of a local body is. And in these days of political correctness and not upsetting the morning tea monitor, I am going to have to watch my P’s and Q’s.

As I walked back to my office – yes, some of us still work for a living – I thought about this large step into the unknown I have taken. And I thought about those very successful councillors who have gone before me, and those who I am going to be working with for the next three years. They are all good people with our city at heart – but surely they can’t be more clever than me – they have all survived this baptism into fire I am experiencing – and they have all become good contributors to society.

And I can do that too – I am just not used to toeing the line – maybe the other councillors will have get used to my free thinking.

Anyway I still see the whole undertaking as a challenge – a challenge that will allow me to serve my community. And whatever happens - I will have my say and enjoy doing so!

In my last piece before the local body elections, I said I would be back today, either as a councillor who comments on local issues or as a local who comments on council issues.I am delighted that the former rather than the latter is the case and I thank you all for your support.

The results of the Napier City Council election were extremely interesting. Those who bothered to vote sent a very clear message that they were very satisfied with Barbara Arnott as Mayor and with the council in general.

There were 10 sitting councillors seeking re-election – 9 were returned and most of those polled extremely well – a clear message of approval.

I feel privileged to join such a successful and popular team and I will certainly give my council work my best shot.

I would like to congratulate all those who had the guts to put their names forward for public office. It does take guts to have a go and it is certainly a healthy sign when there are keen candidates vying for the various positions available.

So why is the turnout so poor for local body elections. Certainly in Napier’s case, there were no particularly contentious issues. There were no councillors publicly scrapping with each other – there were no controversial projects. But I think it is more than that.

The whole process is boring. The public meetings are ridiculously boring – for the very few who turn out to them and the candidates alike. They need to be jazzed up. Put on some entertainment – break the question and answer stuff up in to short sharp bursts. What could be more boring than 26 candidates in a row standing up and basically offering the same answer to some patsy question.

I would like to see a nominated election day, when you go down to the booth to vote. The postal voting system does not inspire anyone to vote – the papers are often just seen as more junk mail. Three weeks to respond usually means voting is left until the last moment and then forgotten.

So that’s it for another 3 years – for better or for worse – you the humble ratepayers have had your say.

Now it is up to the councillors to justify the faith placed in them.