WCC Watch Soapbox: Who to vote for – One pro-fluoridation lefty’s view

Are you of the left wing persuasion who likes their water with a bit of fluoride, but finding it hard to work out who to vote for? Never fear – Asher Goldman is here to help you through the 2013 local body elections!

Feel free to leave questions or comments below. As always candidates or readers are welcome to contribute posts and can submit pieces here. I’d like to get other perspectives on the election so if your an raging right-winger, a anti-fluoride activist, or an (insert issue/view here), please get in touch.

Who to vote for: One pro-fluoridation lefty’s view

This local body election is a tough time for a pro-fluoridation lefty (PFL, for the purposes of this post). I’ve discussed the issue with a bunch of my fellow PFLs, both in real life and on Twitter and Facebook, and we’re all struggling to pick the few halfway semi-decent candidates amongst a sea of dross. Some of my friends have discussed not voting in particular areas (i.e. – for Mayor or Regional Council) but I have two strong reasons for not wanting to do this.

Firstly, while most of the candidates are of a pretty low calibre, some are so awful (i.e. – a certain mustached former cricketer) that it is worth voting for poor candidates to ensure truly awful ones don’t get in. Second, Greater Wellington Regional Council only voted to continue fluoridation by 7 votes to 5 earlier this year, so even one vote on that body changing could make a big difference.

All this advice needs to be taken in an STV context. For the best explanation of how STV works and what happens to your vote, check out this blog post from Graham Edgeler.

With all that said, and while I’m happy to encourage voting and hope this guide will help you in your decision making, I totally acknowledge that the overall standard of candidates across all 4 elections I can vote in is incredibly disappointing. Maybe this will encourage some halfway decent people to stand next time? We can only live in hope.

I have tried as hard as possible to maintain accuracy in my below comments. If any candidate feels that I have misrepresented their views I would be more than happy to correct them, please tweet me at @cuddlyangryjew or email this blog and they’ll pass it on.

Wellington Mayor

#1: Jack Yan

Up until the Dominion Post/Massey University mayoral debate, I was strongly considering leaving the Mayoral portion of my ballot blank. However, the awful performance of Morrison and the strong performance of Yan made me decide not to.

Jack was quite comfortably the best of a bad bunch for most of this race. He did his best to try to lose my vote with the recent revelation that he runs Miss Universe New Zealand (his response that he is trying to work with feminists to make it better doesn’t hold much water) but he’s narrowly holding on to my #1 spot, mostly due to a lack of anyone else who isn’t awful. He’s pro fluoridation and supports the Living Wage, so that’s a start.

#2: Celia Wade-Brown

Celia lost any chance of me saying positive things about her when she spoke approvingly of a protest against the rights of workers to collectively bargain, and when she used her casting vote to make Wellington City Council staff redundant. She’s also presided over a council that has cut funding to libraries. Oh, but she likes riding a bike, so I guess that makes her progressive? What a joke. Perhaps surprisingly, pro-fluoridation. Claims to support a Living Wage, but is clearly no friend to workers so take that with a grain of salt.

#3: Karunanidhi Muthu

He has a nice rags to riches story, but his appeal is significantly lessened by the fact that he used to chair the National Party’s Rongotai branch, and was a United Future candidate in the 2008 election (he came 6th out of 7 with 223 votes). Very supportive of the Living Wage which is nice, but he seems to be against fluoridation (though thinks central government should decide).

#4: Rob Goulden

Clearly a candidate with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Only ranked 4th because he has no chance of winning, and the other two have a chance while being almost as horrible.

#5: Nicola Young

Very proud of her position as the only candidate to oppose a Living Wage for council staff. If that doesn’t seal the deal for you, she also seems to be friendly with John Key. If Wellington’s right-wing had half a brain, they would have backed her as their candidate instead of Morrison. Sadly, she’ll probably get onto the council regardless and use that as a springboard to run for mayor again next time. Gross.

#6: John Morrison

Clearly an unreformed misogynist, completely clueless as to why anyone might take issue with that. Not running for council again so his mayoral tilt is all or nothing. Put him last to ensure that nothing results.

Greater Wellington Regional Council

#1: Daran Ponter

I haven’t had any interaction with him personally, but several people who’s politics I trust speak highly of him. Pro-fluoridation and pro public transport – two of my three key issues when it comes to regional councillors. I don’t know his position on the living wage (my third key issue) but given that he’s running on a Labour ticket it is reasonably likely that he supports it.

#2: Chris Laidlaw

I’m really not a fan, though obviously Chris has a very impressive CV. But he’s pro-fluoridation and, as a sitting councillor with name recognition, is likely to get in anyway, so it doesn’t hurt to place him high.

#3: Sue Kedgley

Another with high name recognition, this former Green MP is likely to get onto the council regardless of where I place her. She’s good on public transport and the Living Wage. She’s also not as bad as you’d expect on fluoridation, wanting a referendum – obviously this is a stupid idea, but its less dangerous than wanting to do away with fluoridation immediately. Not as bad as you’d expect, and less dangerous – tragically, these are qualities which give Sue my third ranking.

#4: Fran Wilde

It really pains me to put Fran at four, but she’s pro-fluoridation so that’s what I’m gonna have to do. Strictly speaking that should probably be enough to put her above Sue Kedgley, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Obviously preparing herself to be the glorious leader of the Wellington Supercity, and it feels icky.

#5: Mike Fleming

I know nothing whatsoever about this guy. He seems to be most passionate about earthquake readiness which is a good thing, and as an engineer I guess he’s probably more likely to be pro-fluoride? But I’ve seen nothing on him – no flyers in the mailbox, no billboards, no info online so I just don’t know. Still, not knowing he’s bad (or good) means he gets ranked above the people I know are bad, so 5th place for him.

#6: Paul Bruce

Up until I found out Paul was against fluoridation, he probably would have been my number 1 pick. But then I found out, and he dropped instantly. The best of the anti-fluoride bunch due to his other policies, but really, who cares? Sue Kedgley was explicit that her view fits within Green Party policy on this issue – I guess that means that Paul, as the other Green candidate, doesn’t.

#7: Ariana Paretutanganui-Tamati

I’ve met Ariana a few times and she seems nice enough, if quite politically naive. She’s one of the people responsible for the host of mostly tiny and irrelevant anti asset sales/GCSB/National Government protests with half a dozen people at Parliament over the last year or so. She’s also anti-fluoride, believing that instead that Councils, District Health Boards and the Ministry of Health should provide toothbrushes and toothpaste to school students on an opt-in basis.

#8: Judith Aitken

Anti-fluoride. Tries to justify it with sciencey sounding language. Been around local body politics for a while now. Time to go.

Southern Ward

#1: Paul Eagle

This was the easiest vote to pick across all four races I can vote in. Everybody speaks highly of Paul, and in my first ever interaction with him this week over some local repair work (storm damaged footpath still not fixed near my house) he responded quickly. Word on the street is he’s the top pick to replace Annette King when she finally retires, Labour would definitely be making a good choice if this happens.

#2: David Lee

It is somewhat ridiculous, but David is the only candidate in this race who doesn’t actually live in the area (he lives in Brooklyn). This really frustrates me (in local body politics being local is pretty important). Otherwise he seems mostly fine – pro-Living Wage, pro-public transport. He does have a LinkedIn account though, so that takes him down a few notches.

#3: Brent Pierson

Never heard of him before, and on first glance of his billboards I was terrified. The black and white photo and text, the silver fern – I assumed New Zealand First was running a local candidate (WWC Watch – his hoardings are recycled from the last general election when he was a NZ First candidate (now independent), he’s just stickered over the necessary parts). It seems he’s independent though, just a bad designer. His policies are excellent – pro-Living Wage, pro-libraries, against sale of council assets. I had ranked him two, but then I stumbled across this submission in support of the Foreshore & Seabed legislation that I assume is by him. Sure, it might be a central government rather than a local government issue, but it still sucks, so Brent drops to three.

#4: Don McDonald

Terrible candidate, only ranked fourth because he has no chance and therefore gets to go above three bad candidates who do.

#5: Ginette McDonald

Running for admirable reasons (to get rid of Bryan Pepperell) but she opposes fluoride so no high spot for Ginette.

#6: Will Moore

Will originally had the inside running for my second spot in this race, given that his policies seem mostly good. He’s apparently a Green Party member though is running as an independent (shades of Celia). However, it turns out Will not only opposes fluoride, but actively participates in Facebook anti-fluoride groups. Honestly, he’s lucky not to drop right to the bottom of my list, but in his favour, he’s still not Bryan Pepperell

#7: Bryan Pepperell

Bryan’s biggest problem is that he’s Bryan Pepperell. Truly a prime example of all that is wrong with local body politics, he comes out on top of Rob Goulden in the race to be the single worst candidate across all races in Wellington. I moved to the Southern Ward not too long before the elections, and I was genuinely excited to have the opportunity to put Bryan last. Bryan is a conspiracist, who a couple of years ago posted an antisemitic video on his Facebook page and deleted the posts of everyone who criticised it. Lovely. If nothing else good comes out of this election season, I hope Bryan loses his spot.

District Health Board

I’m not going to rank everyone in this race, because there’s a lot of them and it’s a bit ridiculous. A good guide here is the NZ Nurses Organisation pledge card, which commits signers to a living wage, safe staffing levels and other good things. Here’s a few candidates worth supporting high up on your list, all of whom have signed the NZNO pledge:

Grant Brookes

A mental health nurse and union delegate, Grant has worked in the sector for years and knows the issues well, he will fight staunchly for public health and against cuts.

David Choat

David is a current DHB member and comes very highly recommended from a number of people. Stands under a Labour ticket and has helped to lead the fight for care, not cuts over the last three years.

Marianne Bishop

Another nurse and carer, she makes explicit mention of enacting the recommendations in the Human Rights Commission’s Caring Counts document, which is an important piece of work.

Helene Ritchie

She’s been around a while, and is pretty annoying, but by and large is on the right side of policy arguments when it comes to DHB issues.

Sue Kedgley

Not without problem on the DHB, given some of her politics around food and weight. But excellent on aged care and supportive of a living wage and pay equity, so worth considering at least.

Other places to find information

The Living Wage campaign has a list of candidates in the Mayoral and City Council elections who have pledged to support its implementation.

The NZ Nurses Organisation lists DHB supporters of its worthwhile pledge card.

The Public Service Association has asked DHB candidates some excellent questions on funding and home care.

The Wellingtonista blog has lots of good coverage.

A helpful person on Twitter has collated views on fluoride from Mayoral, Lambton Ward, C&C DHB and Regional Council candidates.

Generation Zero has rated candidates in the Mayoral and City Council races on various environmental policies.

And at the end of the day, count yourself lucky you don’t live in Kapiti – not a single one of their seven mayoral candidates supports fluoride.

Lastly, and this is important – if you live in Lambton Ward, put Rex Nicholls last!