Keith Melville

A front-page Beacon story last Wednesday alerted me to the weird depths of council financial excesses and the sickening silliness involved.

The story was about a TikTok video produced by Whakatane District Council as a way to encourage people to vote.

The Beacon showed a photo of three council staff members in a dance move in front of voting bins placed strategically outside the civic centre for the photo opportunity. One of the three known only as Pink Shirt in the story, had declined to provide his name to the Beacon and, frankly considering the stupidity of it all, I understand why.

I decided to have a look at the TikTok video and found that they were gyrating to music with each of them pointing to the place in the bin where you would post your voting papers.

I thought, do I really need a council TikTok dance video, probably produced at some expense and then reviewed by one of the council managers, to tell me where to place my voting papers.?

But that was not all, the council produced a similar video the previous week just to let us know voting papers were coming. That video shows some staff members dancing to the music, River Deep Mountain High. I will never again be able to listen to that Tina Turner classic, a song I once enjoyed, without feeling nauseous.

One thing of importance those videos did provide, at least to me, was a strenuous test of my usually robust sense of humour, which is still intact but only just.

I have never visited TikTok before and as a dinosaur from a bygone era I was astonished to learn these sorts of videos are now commonplace among councils up and down New Zealand.

I also found that there is a whole library of silly Whakatāne videos encouraging citizens to do the right thing such as putting our rubbish and recycling materials in the correct bins - something I have always bent over backwards to do anyway.

To add insult to ratepayer injury I learned the council has a whole team devoted to producing such videos. Someone told me over the weekend there are five in the team

How much does that cost and why on earth is the council spending valuable resources to remind us of our civic responsibilities when most of us would be well aware of them in the first place.

I guess the minimum cost to run the team would be $500,000 a year.

Is that really an efficient use of council funds when ratepayers face an affordability and hardship crisis?

You know something has gone dramatically wrong financially when your council clearly believes the cost of telling us the obvious is just as vitally important as the cost of telling us something we already know. That is as outrageous as it is stupid.

It stuns me that we have council candidates who say nothing can be done to control council operating costs. They will tell you those responsibilities belong to the chief executive, not the council. Some of them will then add it doesn't cost much anyway.

General manager people and partnerships Emlyn Hatch responds:

The TikTok in question was created as part of our Stand for Something election campaign, aimed at encouraging people to vote. Voter participation in local government elections has been declining nationwide, and in our district, it dropped from 52.1 percent in 2019 to 45.3 percent in 2022. This year, we’re determined to change that.

Research suggests that voter turnout is lower among young people. That’s why we’re using platforms like TikTok, where younger audiences are spending their time. By meeting them there, we can reach people who might not otherwise engage with council content. The results so far have been encouraging, with comments like “First time ever I’m interested in local politics. I’m going to vote” and “Finally something youth relate to.” It’s also worth noting that TikTok you mentioned reached 111,000 people in the first 48 hours. We’re not alone, many councils across New Zealand are successfully using TikTok to connect with their communities.

Creating a TikTok video is an inexpensive and effective way for us to share messages. On average, they take no more than 15-20 minutes to film and produce, and the platform is free to use. Compared with print, radio or paid advertising, this is a minimal investment for the reach and engagement we gain. It’s also helpful when colleagues give up their lunch break to be involved.

Ultimately, our goal is simple: to make voting easier, more visible, and more relevant. Whether it’s through orange voting bins at supermarkets, mobile voting teams in rural areas, or a light-hearted video on TikTok, we are committed to removing barriers and sparking civic energy.

Regarding staff, Whakatāne District Council has four communications advisors. Social media is just one small part of their role. Their work spans developing and delivering communication strategies for council projects and initiatives, creating content for digital platforms and publications, managing media relations, advising internal teams, building relationships with stakeholders and the community, supporting and delivering public consultations and identifying and managing communication risks. Social media videos are only a fraction of this much broader responsibility.
We welcome continued dialogue and thank you again for your passion for local democracy.