Lowering Voting Age a Good Call!

I think its great that Sue Bradford has raised the voting age debate. I've always believed its a good way to increase voter turnout by lowering the voting age to 16 years of age. It would also enable better education and participation of people in the political process. This is because it gives more opportunity to provide information and awareness through the school system that is relevant to young people. I believe that by reducing the age, people will form voting habits from an earlier age and hence be more likely to vote. This is consistent with the Christchurch City Council’s independent commissioned report into poor local body voter turnout that states “Habit, Duty, Right” as being the primary reason why people vote in local body elections.

Another positive in reducing the voting age is that there are many relevant local body issues for young people today- drag racing, lack of underage venues, safety, public transport and so on. But because young people cannot vote, their concerns and voices are often ignored or brushed aside. A voting age of 16 would make politicians more accountable to the needs of young people.

Hitting the Campaign Trail!

City Housing Tenants Get Bad Deal over Leafy Gutters

It would appear the City housing tenants are getting a bad deal. Their rents have gone up steadily over the past few years to increase maintenance and yet their streets are clearly not being cleaned or looked after properly.

I have been told there have been numerous complaints regarding the leafs in the gutters and yet nothing has been done. It is unacceptable that simply because they are city housing tenants they are getting a lower level of service for street cleaning.

The result of these gutters not being cleaned regularly is the drains are now filled with leaves and if it rains the streets will be subject to massive flooding.

I encourage City Housing tenants to continue to lodge complaints and will be seeking a report from the Council on what has led to the failure of the current arrangements so that it can be fixed in future.

Also it is worth noting that other residents in public streets should ring the main council number 941 8999 and lodge requests for service if they are having similar problems.