Our Rates Are Too High

Obituary : Malcolm Campbell

Sadly my colleague Malcolm Campbell, Eastern Bay ward councillor and ex mayor of Kawerau passed away on the evening of Thursday 21st of May. The service was held in Kawerau town hall on Wednesday 27th of May. Best described as a state funeral, the hall was packed with many people sitting outside. In a touch of irony, it was pointed out by one of the speakers that it was Malcolm himself as Mayor who had previously insisted that the town hall should be made smaller as he could not imagine it ever being filled. Well it was filled on that day, and I doubt that Malcolm was thinking ahead to his own funeral when he made that decision.

I only knew Malcolm for a short time, but I enjoyed his company, and his valuable and extensive experience in local government, first as Kawerau councillor, then Mayor, and then regional councillor in “retirement”. My condolences to his wife, children, grandchildren and all his friends and colleagues.

There will be a by election to elect a new councillor. In the meantime we are thirteen, down from fourteen.

Thoughts As Regional Councillor

Being inside council is very different to being on the outside. Council is a large bureaucratic and expensive machine driven by government legislation and regulation. I am one of thirteen/fourteen councillors, so one voice among many. However it is better to have one voice than no voice, and I am enjoying the role. It is a very interesting experience.

One of the things that I have realised very early on is that many of the problems in councils are caused by government: bad legislation, over regulation, too much prescription, and too many unfunded mandates (things that the government dumps on councils and which councils have to pay for out of rates). So the path to improving local government goes through Parliament. Councils and councillors also contribute to those problems.

Government is currently reorganising councils. Improving councils is well overdue, but I do not think that government is going about it the right way. it seems to be more about electioneering, than achieving real results. I totally agree that councils need to change, but I am sceptical that the government proposals will work.

Three weeks after being sworn in as councillors, we were told that regional councillors were going to go, and that we would be losing our jobs. That has since been rolled back, and we are staying on to the end of our term, ending at the elections in 2028. There will be no regional council elections in 2028.

Whats Next

There is a lot going on so I will be updating the blog.