Are political pamphlets junk mail?

A topical question indeed at this time of year… With 200 people poised to deliver our first city-wide pamphlet of the campaign, each will be confronted with the sign “No Junk Mail” on many letterboxes.

Last week when door knocking, I took a straw poll on the issue. In one family the husband and wife were split down the middle. The wife said of course it was junk mail, and if she wanted to find out anything about the candidates she would go to the papers or ring up council. The husband said it was not and the pamphlets carried out a valuable public service in helping people to know more about the candidates.

Only 40% of our community voted in the last elections. The most common response as to why they did not was that they had no idea who the candidates were and therefore binned the voting papers. In the face of this attitude I say deliver and be damned. Someone has got to fight for democracy.

You’re the only one out there!

A lady came up to me the other day and said that the campaign seemed to be going well, and “you’re the only one out there.” At times it feels a little like that. Our posters are going up in shops across the city and our door knocking team continues apace. We are advertising in the local media and now I am campaigning full time.

Good old fashioned politics.

Doing the hard yards on political campaigns is well understood by our communities. Our communities also understand the need to serve an apprenticeship in politics. You may remember last Saturday and how it bucketed down late morning. Yours truly was door knocking in the middle of all that. I remembered in 2004 being all but blown over in Taylor Rd Mangere Bridge in a spring hailstorm. I made a promise to myself at the time that I would never door knock in the rain again.

And so last Saturday I arrived at Wells Rd off Bucklands Beach Rd. at 10.30 am. The heavens opened up. My old mate Bill Marshall just happened to phone and in his typically laconic style encouraged me to “get into it”. “A bit of rain never hurt anyone” said Bill.

He was right. It was a great day; the umbrella still works though the suit needs a dry clean. Importantly the community and I had an awesome time debating the issues of the day with many expressing their appreciation of my “doing the hard yards”.

I’ve never been afraid of hard work; nothing I have achieved has come to me easily and maybe that is the best way. The experience and understanding I am gaining from listening to people’s concerns, worries, hopes and fears have shaped and tempered my views, sharpened my focus and confirmed that we live in a city full of people who are overwhelmingly fair-minded and welcoming.

I love this place and would be very honoured to lead it.

Len Brown,

Mayoral Candidate, Manukau City,2007.

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