BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1950 A BUSINESSMEN’S COUNCIL?

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 16, Issue 4, 6 October 1950, Page 4

BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1950 A BUSINESSMEN’S COUNCIL?

As interest in the coming municipal elections grows, it is becoming clear that there may be a lack of businessmen candidates for the Whakatane Borough Council. It is usually accepted that a borough council should consist largely of businessmen and, until recent years, a non-ratepayer was not eligible for election. Whether or not the passing of Legislation to allow any resident to be a candidate was wise is still debated. On the present Council of nine (other than the Mayor) are eight businessmen, the only exception being Mr R. S. Buttimore. Of these eight, one, Mr H. G. Warren, will be a Mayoral candidate and five, Hon. W. Sullivan and Messrs C. S. Armstrong, R. T. Morpeth, C. M. Lennie and E. R. Dillicar, will not be recontesting their seats. The only businessmen who will be seeking re-election to the Council are Messrs A. D. O’Rourke and K. A. Needham. Of the new candidates who have been definitely named, only Mr A. Cobbe and Mr C. E. Thatcher can be classed as businessmen.

So far efforts by some businessmen to persuade others to stand have been negative.

Without in any way belittling the work of councillors who have no business interests, it can be said that there is great danger in the fact that Whakatane is likely to elect a Council with only a minority of businessmen. The next Borough Council is likely to be faced soon after its return with big problems not so much of what

to spend as of what not to spend. As an example, the need for a sanitary service will become prominent during the term of the next Council and a decision will need to be made as to what expenditure is warranted. The need for other amenities will also become increasingly urgent and the decision will need to be made as to what can be done without and what is sufficiently necessary to warrant increased rates.

It is in such matters as these that business experience and the fact that Councillors have substantial stakes in the town result in balanced outlook and decisions. And balanced outlook is what Whakatane will soon need above all. The one non-businessman at present on the Council has been a valuable member and is certainly not given to making unbalanced proposals. Doubtless others who will be elected will be of the same make-up. But it is easy for a wage-earner to be confident of his ability to control public expenditure until he is likely to learn from rather too costly experience that he cannot.

Certainly this town needs a progressive Council but pro-

gress must be tempered by the caution born of business experience.