‘‘With respect, your tips reflect your ideal, not voters’ needs’’ was how Garreth Ottley responded.
Bill Acklin was one candidate who was comfortable with Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker’s advice to voters, ‘‘especially given that there have been no candidates singled out by name’’.
Lync Aronson’s take was: ‘‘Given some of the struggles with the current council, I think it’s completely valid that the mayor wants a councillor who can contribute positively.’’
Voting papers for the Dunedin City Council by-election have been arriving in mailboxes this week and Ms Barker offered her ‘‘top tips’’ on Facebook.
She urged people to do their research and to assess whether candidates’ values aligned with their own.
Her questions included: ‘‘Will they uphold and grow the reputation of our city — or contribute to negative attitudes?
‘‘Are they working for positive good?’’
Ms Barker had ‘‘a selfish point’’ at the end: ‘‘Have they demonstrated ability to work with me in the past?
‘‘For me as mayor, I really want a sensible, balanced approach — a seasoned brain, a good thinker and hard worker with proven experience who understands the issues facing council and can work proactively and with councillors to reach solutions.
‘‘You voted me in as mayor — now please make sure you help get a council to support the work you wanted me to do.’’
Candidate Jo Galer said she agreed Dunedin was ‘‘crying out for better leadership and less dysfunction, which has obviously driven this post’’.
‘‘One quality not mentioned by the mayor is broad shoulders to tolerate vigorous debate,’’ Ms Galer said.
‘‘I’d like to be part of a council where you can freely discuss all aspects of challenging issues.’’
The fifth point on Ms Barker’s list began: ‘‘Are they highly politically aligned? Have they already aligned themselves to certain councillors or interests?’’
Ms Barker told the ODT this was not targeted at anyone.
Many people attempted to read between the lines, but there was ‘‘nothing to see’’, she said.
‘‘I want to make it very clear I am not endorsing anyone — I’m saying ‘do your research’.’’
Aaron Hawkins was previously elected on a Green Party ticket, but is running as an independent candidate this time.
‘‘The beauty of local government is that despite what people might say about bloc voting, it really isn’t like that in practice,’’ he said.
‘‘On any given day, if you can get seven people to agree with you, you can help chart a course for your community.’’
Andrew Whiley said he did not see the post as favouring any particular candidate. He believed the mayor was trying to encourage people to engage in the voting process.
Conrad Stedman said most people would agree with many of the mayor’s points.
‘‘Where it becomes more nuanced is that comments from a sitting mayor during an election period can carry significant weight,’’ he said.
‘‘Even when framed as general advice, they can be interpreted as favouring a particular type of candidate or approach.’’
Carmen Houlahan said voters should feel confident about making their own choice.
Lianna MacFarlane wanted full transparency if elected members supported particular candidates publicly.
‘‘Much like the conflicts-of-interest guidelines ... they should declare specifically as to why and if there are any other significant connections, relationship or alliances to the candidate they are supporting publicly.’’
Dr Angus Mackay said the mayor’s post essentially reflected what most candidates had been promoting.
Political commentator Bryce Edwards said there were no real rules around the situation.
‘‘Certainly, I think a mayor should be free to endorse any candidate,’’ he said.
Dr Edwards suggested Ms Barker’s messaging might be too subtle to make much difference to the by-election outcome.
‘‘So maybe it is a case of the mayor trying to have it both ways by having an impact on the race without being seen to be meddling.’’
