Avian laxatives required

A lot of debate over the fate of Graeme "GK" Taylor, who just happens to be the latest entrant on our Council Watch report card (well if we waited much longer, it might have become moot!).

There seems to be a lot of confusion as to the legal situation in light of the announced intention of Graeme Taylor to resign, so here are the facts:

1. The last triennial election was held on 9 October 2004.
2. The next one is therefore scheduled for late 2007.
3. The Local Electoral Act Section 117 (1) clearly says that if a vacancy occurs more than 12 months before the next scheduled election, then "the vacancy must be filled by an election under this Act".
4. Therefore, unless Graeme Taylor delays resigning until after October 2006, there has to be an election to replace him. The Council does not have the option of appointing, or leaving the position vacant.
5. However, whether Mr Taylor does resign, and the timing of that resignation, is up to him*.

* This assumes, of course, that he is not a glove puppet of the Diva, and would sit politely on his hands while someone else made his decisions for him. "Mr Laws [said] Mr Taylor would continue with council roles in the meantime and resign by the end of the year", according to the Chron, so we still await a single public word from GK about his own intentions.

Meanwhile, in deference to the sensibilities of those who see the Chron(ic) as the venerable old lady of Wanganui society, we've buttoned our upstart lips on that topic of late. But the old lady's drawers are firmly round her ankles on the subject of the future of GK and the seat he holds at the Council table.

LawsWatch had news of Taylor's intentions five days ago. If Taylor had refused to confirm or deny that to the Chron, then that is surely a story in itself. But on the available evidence (i.e. what was published) they didn't ask.

Then, the eventual story is nothing more than a rehash of the Diva's press release. No attempt to get Taylor's comments. No analysis of what happens now. No attempt to ask the Diva to justify speaking on Taylor's behalf and keeping him on till Christmas rather than calling an election. Not even a feeble attempt to find out what the people of Wanganui think ought to happen (which, according to our poll, is running 73% to 27% in favour of a by-election).

And rather than the "angle" being the implications for democracy in Wanganui, the story waits till the eighth paragraph before even mentioning it. GK's rugby career, long since ended, is placed higher up the story.

If the region's major newspaper is prepared to sit on it's hands for five days till it's told from on high what it may and may not print, and then does so without any attempt at analysis, it's hardly worth the subscription (unless, of course, you're vitally concerned about what happened to Scruffy).

Commenters, both pro- and anti-Diva, have done far better on this blog. And they even figured out the difference between Graeme Adams and Graeme Taylor.

Sadly, The Watchers have had to stop putting the Chron to its only remaining use. Our budgie has developed a bad case of constipation, staring down at the plethora of dog / cat / rooster stories which now take pride of place on the front page of what used to be a proud newspaper.

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