He's running

Why I decided to run for ECan again in 2022

Last week I put my name in the running to be a ECan Councillor, representing the South / Owhanga ward. This is the same ward in which I ran, and came third, at the last election. That result was devastating, as I was close, but not close enough. For a long time, I had thought that I wouldn’t have the energy to run again. Then, over the last few months, a few people had been asking me if I was going to run again, and so I began to rethink it. I still care about the area, and the issues I did last election. But I was also worried about the risk of low voter turnout, and that combined with some of the nuttier candidates from the anti-vax / conspiracy movement throwing their names in the ring. If one of them were to get in because there weren’t any non-crazy options, I would have kicked myself. So I gathered up the required signatures, and managed to get my form in comfortably before the deadline.

I’m going to use this newsletter as the main outlet for telling you about who I am, about what I believe in, and about how I think I am the best candidate to turn those words into action. Over the coming weeks I’ll outline my positions on what I think the three major issues for ECan are - climate change, public transport, and industrial dairying. I’ll talk about how I plan to campaign - and why you won’t see pictures of me on the back of a bus, or sponsored posts on Facebook.

I’m not going to be running a large campaign, with all the bells and whistles. Word of mouth will be one of the most important ways for me to get my message out to the people who could vote for me. So if you know someone else who lives in the area, who you think would like my positions on better public transport, real action to limit industrial dairying, and treating climate change with the seriousness it requires, then please, feel free to share this newsletter with them.