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John Capener
Given that Mr Luca has conceded the Whakatāne Mayoral election result in favour of Nandor Tanczos, there will need to be some soul searching among those on his council.
I say that because some 40 years ago in West Auckland there was an election that saw a young radical, Tim Shadbolt, oust an establishment incumbent Tony Covic.
I’m not suggesting Mr Tanczos is a young radical, but with his Rastafarian views and dreadlocks he doesn’t fit the image of the usual “pale, stale, male”.
However, my point being, that for his time as mayor Mr Shadbolt faced a barrage of criticism from Mr Covic and his mates, who did everything to thwart the mayor’s agenda.
The upshot being that Mayor Tim, as he was called, was reduced to pointing out that he was only one vote in the council chamber.
I’m raising that piece of local body history to remind the new council, before you start playing games with the rules, the voters will not thank you in three years.