Pre-election workshops well supported

CANDIDATE PRE-ELECTION WORKSHOPS BIG SUCCESS

Ruapehu District Council's (RDC) two candidate workshops held this week for anyone thinking of standing in the October Local Authority Elections for either a Council or Community Board position have been well supported.

The workshops attracted 19 potential candidates in Taumarunui and 13 to last night's meeting (Wed 6 July 16) in Ohakune.

Ruapehu Mayor Don Cameron said that the candidate workshops have been part of Council's support for the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) campaign Vote2016 which is wanting to help build stronger communities through more engaged local democracy.

Our district faces some big challenges and we need to ensure that we have elected representatives that have the energy, leadership ability and diversity of skills to meet these head on, he said.

Newly successful elected members can sometimes get a bit of a shock' when they are confronted with the reality of how things work and what's involved.

Council doesn't want to deter anyone from standing for election but we do want our successful candidates to be as best prepared as possible for the role they have been elected for.

There's no doubt that newly elected members face a steep learning curve, however, anyone who attended one of the workshops will now be going into the election with their eyes wide open' as to what the requirements and expectations of being an elected member are.

Council wants to help successful candidates to become effective as quickly as possible and assist them in not feeling overwhelmed by Council processes and the amount of new information they will be given.

As well hearing from Council staff the new potential candidates were able to hear directly from existing elected members about their own personal experience.

Candidate nominations open on Friday 15 July.

More information on standing as a candidate or enrolling and voting can be found on Council's website. See: http://goo.gl/OwrmAe

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