Reefton man puts hand up for vacant Regional Council seat

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Lois Williams:

The Reefton man who was the third-highest polling candidate for a West Coast Regional Council seat in the last elections is putting his hand up for the seat left vacant by the untimely death of Westport’s Frank Dooley.

Dave Hawes who polled 794 votes in 2022, compared to Dooley’s 1769, was not far behind runner-up and sitting councillor Mark McIntyre, who took the second Buller seat on the council with 849 votes.

Under the Local Electoral Act, the Regional Council has only two options to deal with the vacancy for a second Buller representative.

It can leave Dooley’s seat vacant until the council elections next October or appoint someone in the interim.

A by-election is held only if there is a year or more to go until the next council elections.

The council resolved yesterday to appoint a qualified person in the new year, from a short-list to be drawn up by chairperson Peter Haddock, and councillors Mark MacIntyre and Brett Cummings.

Hawes said the most democratic option would be to appoint him – since Buller voters chose to put him next on the list two years ago.

“I don’t need the job but I’m willing to serve now, as I was then. I was a Buller District Councillor for 15 years, and I worked with people of all political stripes.”

Hawes’ ‘green’ credentials – 15 years leading DOC’s Reefton work crew - might work against him in a strongly pro-mining council, he said.

“But I’m a pragmatist - I come from old Westport and Reefton stock and my aim has always been to get the best outcome for the Buller.”

Regional councillors at Tuesday’s meeting this week’s noted major decisions were looming for Westport’s flood protection scheme, and suggested the appointee should be someone with a sound knowledge of the town, its land tenure and flood walls.

McIntyre said financial skills would be important, and the loss of Dooley had left a ‘ big hole’ for the council to fill in that regard.

Chief executive Darryl Lew said the ideal candidate would have all those attributes, but the council would in future have access to financial advice from the soon-to-be appointed independent chairperson of the Risk and Assurance committee.

Hawes said the primary objective should be fair and competent representation, and there was a risk in allowing a group that did not represent Buller to cherry-pick a councillor for the district.

Buller was bigger than just Westport, and there could be advantages in having a Buller rep who did not actually live in the town, he said.

“There’s going to be some tough calls to make with those floodwalls; some people will be left unprotected to protect others, and it might help to have a councillor with local knowledge but no skin in the game.”

The former BDC councillor is semi-retired and putting time into the Reefton Historical Society and local Powerhouse Trust – which aims to be generating hydro-power by Christmas.