There was an element of provocation before Dunedin city councillor Lee Vandervis remonstrated with an 80-year-old woman, but we can surely expect him to handle such a situation better than he did.
- Our reporters have been out attending various candidate forums.
In Dunedin, debates at Opoho Presbyterian Church are typically lively, and there have been some entertaining moments at forums in other parts of the South.
- Business South ran a meet-and-greet at Waitaki last week.
Each candidate was given three minutes to speak and mayoral incumbent Gary Kircher stood up to speak first.
He mentioned he always seemed to be first and asked how Paul Mutch (the only other mayoral candidate) felt, always coming second to him.
- A duck caller was blown when speakers at the Waitaki event had 30 seconds left and again when their time was up. Sometimes it was loud and forceful. Sometimes it sounded like a dying duck.
Duck caller Alex Regtien, from The Business Hive, advised the noise in no way reflected his feelings towards the candidates or their speeches.
- Sir Tim Shadbolt was a no-show at an Invercargill mayoral debate last week.
In a statement read by host Scotty Stevenson, Sir Tim said he had decided against attending, as he considered attention would be diverted to the manner of delivery of his message, rather than its content.
Despite what his statement said, Sir Tim’s no-show practically amounts to a concession he is not up to the job any more.
- Queenstown Lakes mayoralty candidates got quite a grilling at a Wakatipu High School forum last week. It is pleasing to see pupils there have developed such deep engagement with issues affecting local democracy.
- The Otago Daily Times can confirm it does not adjust photos of Cr Vandervis to make his face appear redder.
In an intriguing piece for the Newsroom site, it was claimed Cr Vandervis "suspects a filter is used to make him appear red-faced in photos".
This is one conspiracy theory that has no factual basis.
- The author for Newsroom reckoned the Dunedin mayoralty contest looked set to be a two-horse race, between the incumbent, Aaron Hawkins, and Cr Vandervis.
There was no mention of Jules Radich, Carmen Houlahan and Sophie Barker.
It’s possible Cr Vandervis has not shed support over Covid-19 viewpoints, nor his long-running legal dispute with the council over a conduct matter, which he has now lost.
We’ll soon see if his support has, in fact, held firm.
- After an article about the revamp of George St, the Otago Daily Times received a response of sorts from the Dunedin City Council to an earlier query on the subject.
Challenged about the inclusion of a sentence that I continue to believe served no legitimate purpose, city council staff produced an unintentionally comedic reply.
Fortunately, for the council, it was not for publication.
- Campaign signage continues to be adjusted in various ways. Googly eyes seem to be especially popular and some teeth extractions have occurred.
- Dunedin City Council candidates Steve Walker and Richard Knights teamed up to produce a video about parking in the central city.
It involved a walk just after 9am on a Thursday, starting near the Dunedin Railway Station and ending in the Octagon, and a bunch of parking spaces were available.
I was excited to see my own car feature in the footage. It was parked by the railway station, where all-day parking is $7.
