Anyone interested in standing in this year’s local elections will have the chance to find out more about the role of an elected member at an information evening on Monday 18 July.

Hosted by Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC), the evening’s presentation will be delivered by Warwick Lampp, from Electionz.com, the company contracted to count voting papers on behalf of QLDC.

QLDC’s Electoral Officer Jane Robertson said it would be a good opportunity to learn about local government elections and what life is like as an elected member.

“Warwick is a wealth of knowledge. His presentation will cover the business of local government and detail the ‘job description’ of a Mayor, Councillor or Community Board member as well as the nuts and bolts of the election process itself,” she said.

The event will be held at the Council Chambers on Gorge Road in Queenstown, as well as streamed online. No bookings are required.

In addition to the information evening, a Candidate’s Handbook has also been published. The handbook details a range of information that may be useful for people interested in standing for election, including pay rates, role descriptions, Ward boundaries, and nomination details.

The handbook is available from the QLDC website, along with other helpful resources such as the pre-election report and will be published in hard copy at Council offices from next week.

With nominations opening at the end of this week, QLDC’s Chief Executive Mike Theelen said now was a good time to remind the public that Council had to remain completely neutral throughout the election period.

“Our role is to let people know about the role of elected members, encourage people to stand for election, and promote voter turnout. And we need to do that in a way that doesn’t promote the interests or prospects of any candidate so as not to risk the integrity of the process,” Mr Theelen said.

“No electioneering would be permitted at any Council premises, especially Council Chambers and notified meetings of Council, which includes online meetings. Campaigning is also prohibited on Council digital channels, such as QLDC’s Facebook page. We will remove any campaign information or comments considered electioneering that is posted on our sites,” he said.

“We know there are a number of current elected members that have chosen not to stand again in October so we really want to encourage as many people as possible to think about whether they feel they could make a difference for their local communities through standing. Or whether they know any local legends that need that little bit of encouragement to step up.”

Nominations open this week on Friday 15 July, and close 12 August at noon.

ENDS|KUA MUTU.

Media contact: communications@qldc.govt.nz or call 03 441 1802.

FURTHER INFORMATION | KĀ PĀROKO TĀPIRI:

More detail about the candidate information evening is available on the Facebook event.

Here is a link to the Candidate’s Handbook and the Pre-Election Report.

Nomination forms will be available on the QLDC website, as well as in hard copy from Council offices from Friday 15 July.

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