"Zap! Kapow! Holy cow! We gotta new mayor!"

Whatever I think of his politics I do enjoy Hone's style;

Hone Harawira's Ae Marika

Zap! Kapow! Holy cow! We gotta new mayor!

Wayne Brown, slayer of bureaucracy, doyen of the slash and burn brigade, arch-enemy of the unions and upsetter of the blue-rinse brigade, has just hacked his way through the jungles of local government administration, and taken top prize in the top district, in the top country in the whole world!!!

So watch out folks, ‘cause the next few years are going to be wild (hopefully).

Brownie’s a surfing nut, and if there’s an analogy for how our next few years are gonna be, then it’s this - we’re about to take a ride on one of the wildest waves we’ve ever seen in local politics, with our new mayor cutting us back into the wave and squeezing out just before it all comes crashing down on us (possibly), then cutting back again (definitely), then out again (with a little bit of luck).

It’s going to be wild, and I’m kinda lookin’ forward to it actually. The bureaucracy in the Far North needs a good kick up the arse, and if anyone’s gonna do it, then it’s Brownie.

No offense to our outgoing mayor, Yvonne Sharp. She was always going out of her way to attend things, she was always positive (even when she was telling me off for something), helpful of the many communities in her fiefdom, and an excellent representative of our area. But for all her good intentions, it’s hard to have faith in an operation that takes your rates, then subcontracts most of its work out to somebody else, then denies any obligation to the ratepayer.

But now we got a new mayor, let me make a few predictions. (1) Brownie’s going to piss a lot of people off. (2) Some council staff will get the chop. (3) Other council staff will leave. (4) Some councillors will have already had meetings about how they’re going to put Brownie in his place. (5) Other councillors think they’re happy he’s got the job, but aren’t too sure about it. (6) I will certainly get upset with something Brownie does, although I’m not quite sure what that’s going to be just yet. (7) Brownie could care less about any or all of the above.

Hang on tight folks! I can see the wave coming!