The by-election victor is arriving at a time of some turmoil for the council.
This is well-illustrated by today’s extraordinary council meeting agenda, which shows Ms Galer’s councillor declaration is to be followed by a resolution to exclude the public.
The matter then to be discussed is a code of conduct complaint in relation to Cr Benedict Ong.
His exasperated colleagues will decide what to do about the findings of an investigation into Cr Ong breaching confidentiality. Since the complaint, Cr Ong has poured fuel on the fire, including via incendiary comments at the weekend about an employment matter.
‘‘I, (name), declare that I will faithfully and impartially, and according to the best of my skill and judgement, execute and perform, in the best interests of the City of Dunedin, the powers, authorities and duties vested in, or imposed upon me as a member of the Dunedin City Council by virtue of the Local Government Act 2002, the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, or any other Act.’’
Ms Galer is set to sign up today.
Cr Ong has been an immense distraction for the council and, on top of that burden, there is plenty on its plate, including pressure on rates and debt, recruiting or reappointing a chief executive and wrestling with what sort of plan might be needed for 2027-37. Then there is the matter of a government push for council amalgamations.
The Dunedin City Council has sometimes had close votes this term, some strong personalities are at the table and into this challenging setting enters Ms Galer.
A few things stand out about the by-election result.
First, if voters wanted a candidate with council experience, they had a series of viable options. They instead elected somebody new.
Second, the by-election race was tight. Ms Galer finished 89 votes ahead of former mayor Aaron Hawkins.
Third, the field had a clear top four and, within this, Ms Galer emerged as the leading alternative to Mr Hawkins. Some of that was contentious, but her campaign was more forthright and strident than others. This might have been just enough to give her the edge over Conrad Stedman and Andrew Whiley, who were not far off the pace in third and fourth.
Ms Galer’s political activities had previously principally been about advocacy for heritage. In this campaign, she also tapped into issues such as a trial closure of part of Queens Dr to traffic and lack of decisive action about South Dunedin drainage. She was endorsed by Crs Russell Lund and Lee Vandervis.
The inability of Mr Hawkins to get across the line might be seen as a second rejection of his 2019-22 mayoralty. The man himself wondered if ‘‘an ugly smear campaign’’ from Ms Galer and Cr Lund cost him the win.
An election held under the single transferable vote (STV) system always provides opportunities for number-crunching.
In this by-election, voters’ ranking of second and third preferences made quite a difference. Mr Hawkins was comfortably ahead on first preferences and had a handy lead right up until the final round.
Among other points worth noting is that when Mr Whiley exited the race, the majority of any votes redistributed went to Mr Stedman.
However, Mr Stedman had too much ground to make up on the leaders. When he was eliminated, the vast majority of any votes reallocated went to Ms Galer, rather than Mr Hawkins.
Ms Galer gained enough support from the voting consensus — just.
In a one-position runoff, STV tends to do a good job of establishing the prevailing sentiment, at least among those who vote.
Even in a race for multiple seats, a theme can become evident. In October last year, five councillors lost their seats, as many voters sought change. The by-election result last week can be read as a continuation of this sentiment.
The result was nonetheless on a knife edge and the upshot is Dunedin continues to have a finely balanced council of elected representatives.
