A big week in little Cromwell

Up at the top of the Nevis, Christmas Day 2015

Spring has well and truly sprung and time is nearly up on the campaigning.  There were a couple of major events for me this week with the end of term rush and the Meet the Candidate meeting being the really big stuff.

The Meet the Candidates meeting was great.  It was standing room only and the audience was a really mixed bunch, a good cross section of the Cromwell community.  The Community Board candidates all sat in the back row - we let the big boys (and girl) - the Mayoral and Regional Council candidates sit up front.

I really enjoyed listening to each person speak and make their case.  The seasoned campaigners come across so cool and confident, so incredibly used to being up in front of large groups of people.  My usual audience is often larger, but mostly aged 11 and under and they aren't there to critique what I have to say - they have to listen to me - that's the deal at school.

My talk was tightly scripted and carefully timed and I hope I didn't come across too rigid - I love to talk and without the careful planning I would definitely have been stopped by the dreaded overtime bell and would probably have gone off on some major tangents - I knew what I wanted to say and I wanted to make sure I wasn't distracted.  I did have a song up my sleeve - just in case it wasn't going well - not sure it would have helped.  My fellow Community Board Candidates all spoke well, Cromwell is lucky to have such capable, competent people standing to represent our community.

There may have been some platitudes, but there were very few empty promises.  Whatever happens in the final count up the Community Board is going to have new faces and fresh ideas and I think we are all aware of the steep learning curve to come if elected.  Most candidates shared their backgrounds, experiences and reasons for wanting to be part of the decision making process for our town.

We love to get the mountain bikes out around our district

One thing I did take time to ponder later was the notion of the Cromwell local - lived here for 25 years or born and bred here.  I think we need to be very aware that in this growing community that we need to make sure that our whole community is valued and included in our thinking.  We've got lots of new residents, people who have chosen to come and live her and we need to make sure that they are welcome and feel that they are part of this community and are able to have their say about how it grows and develops.

We love our local walk ways

Question time was fascinating.  The Cromwell Community Board candidates were quite thankful about the decision to sit in the back row while our Mayoral and Regional Council counterparts took the tricky questions about freedom campers, water quality, sewerage and of course - rates increases.  The hackles went up on the Mayoral candidates a couple of times - but nothing got too heated or out of hand - I did think about breaking into song at one point - but pulled myself back from the impulse.

We love our mountains

A huge thank you to the Lions and Rotary Clubs for organising the meeting.  The only thing left to do - if you haven't already done so is vote.  Luckily paper recycling doesn't go out until next week - so there is a good chance that you can still find your voting papers - remember - no whingeing about local issues for 3 years if you don't vote!