Mawera Karetai

In response to Sandy’s letter in Wednesday’s Beacon, I was not talking about Victor Luca in my letter about the roles of councillors and the chief executive – he will already understand those roles after six years on the council.

I was talking about the new crop of candidates who have had no experience, and don’t understand the job. I’m sorry that Mr Milne thought it was about Victor, and I’m now wondering why.

A good example of what I was talking about in my letter is the announcement by the latest mayoral candidate, Philip Jacobs.

Mr Jacobs might well have some practical accounting skills, but based on his announcement, he doesn’t understand the difference between governance and management.

He has also fallen into the “well-of-soon-to-be-broken-promises”, where confidence in democracy goes to die, by making promises he can’t possibly keep.  

He quotes figures to criticise the council but offers no comparison with other councils as a reality check.

He has actively and openly slammed the chief executive and the current councillors that he now seeks to lead.

And he is planning on making changes to operations – which as we well know, is not the domain of the mayor.

Let this be a lesson to all the other hopefuls. Bring real solutions.

I want to read what you think the council has done well and build from that. If you can’t identify the positives then it shows you are incapable of taking a critical approach – that, worryingly, you can’t see the whole picture because you are blinded by your ideology and bias.

We deserve big picture, collaborative thinking, from a leader that can manage change.

Beware the maker of impossible promises, and their well-of-soon-to-be-broken-promises.