Catrina Jones

Insight into Mayor Victor Luca voting down Whakatāne District Council’s long-term plan, in response Chris Mulcahy (Beacon, September 26).

Dr Luca, as an act of leadership, took the initiative to present to council his mayoral expectations – not a standard procedure.

His expectations were very insightful and sensible and included guidelines/thresholds for council spending focus and an expectation to “live within our means” – no additional staff.
This was a heads-up on what he considered important issues facing the council.

The final version of the long-term plan did not tick many of the mayor’s boxes – specifically, the rates were too high.
After the council voted, Dr Luca showed his strength of character by voting against the long-term plan because councillors’ voting was not aligned to his expectations and did not meet his thresholds. He was one of three that voted this way.

It was not  entirely his long-term plan, it was collectively a plan compiled by management and his guideline expectations, which resulted in detailed council deliberations and public submissions.

Voting down a long-term plan is a brave and rare occurrence in council, but he was consistent and stood by his convictions and was backed by two councillors.