Over the last two years, I’ve joked to many constituents who’ve asked about the work of an electorate MP that a sizeable portion of the work I’m privileged to do involves making council do its job.
This is true of ongoing work to keep neighbourhood peace and save the iconic, 75-year-running, family-owned small business - the White Lady food truck - as a result of council regulations that are set up to punish, not enable.
It’s true of constant frustration at a lack of ‘toilet strategy’, which means K’Rd Business Association and I have had to spend far, far too much time corralling the council, Auckland Transport and City Rail Link to take responsibility for a dearth of public toilets along the one kilometre strip of road.
These stories are just the tip of the iceberg on why it is so, so important that you vote in this local body election.
Voter turnout in 2019 was 35.26%. That’s a few hundred thousand of us in this city making incredibly important decisions for the entire nearly two million of us. Those decisions put people in power who decide the quality of the water that comes out of our taps, inform the affordability, style, and form of housing in our growth, contribute to the kind of culture and nightlife that flourishes (or doesn’t).
Despite low voter turnout todate, while we’ve managed to largely avoid colossal issues, the pace of necessary change – to tackle our climate-changing emissions, to enable high-quality urban density, to pedestrianise Queen Street as promised – has not been fast enough. To oversimplify and paraphrase the many stellar local government think-pieces by economist Bernard Hickey, this perhaps comes down to the conservativism baked into organisations that people don’t engage much with and therefore expect much of.
Frankly, you cannot leave politics to the politicians. Democracy doesn’t just happen every three years with an election. It happens every single day with decisions that inform the environment we live in and opportunities available to us.
All of this said, I’ve still had some major bright spots in working with particularly our local City Vision Waitematā Local Board members and Councillor, Pippa Coom. Alongside work on our city and built environment (including changes to support Community Housing Projects!), we’ve consistently collaborated to push for greater protections for Tīkapa Moana, our Hauraki Gulf. This has had substantive influence on the government’s proposed ‘revitalising the Gulf’ proposals – which we’re still pushing to go a lot further and faster (you can submit to Department of Conservation by 28 October to help us do it!). With our Local Board, I’ve been proud to progress support for our Māori Wardens to ensure an inclusive and safe city for all and stoked to see development of work for urban food farms.
This election, I’m also proud to see my friend, local organiser and dedicated community problem-solver, Rosemary Peppermint, (yes, a phenomenal name) on the ballot. She’s been one of the core coordinators in our efforts to ensure those experiencing homelessness and hard times continued to get fed throughout the Omicron outbreak and beyond.
Practical, on-the-ground, tangible work like this is the bread and butter of local government. It’s the opportunity we have in also electing as mayor, Efeso Collins, who, as one of our former great Auckland mayors, Sir Bob Harvey puts it, “brings a real sense of unity, vision and purpose” in his solutions-focused campaign for our great city.
Voting closes on 8 October, but it’s always wise to ensure you drop in your ballot at the post-box or at Little Leys Library (14 Jervois Road) a few days beforehand.
If you haven’t received your pack, please call Electoral Office on 09 973 5212 or email specialvotes@electionservices.co.nz to cast a special vote. (Chlöe Swarbrick)