Co-opt concern

Ruapehu Bulletin, 25 August 1992, Page 4

Co-opt concern

• It was with some concern that I read the notice in the Raetihi School newsletter last week advising of a meeting to be held to discuss the possible coopting of a Maori member onto the school's Board of Trustees. This meeting was not initiated by the Board of Trustees themselves, nor (to my knowledge) were any of the board members in attendance. Although the newsletter did not state why it was felt that a Maori member needed to be co-opted, the implications seem clear - that they feel that the five present board members, principal and one staff member must

have a prejudice against (or away from) things Maori. If they didn't think this way, then why bother trying to co-opt a Maori member? It concerns me that a meeting such as this may bring pressure on our present board and make/force them to coopt someone that they don't see the need for. It concerns me too, that if this group is successful, it may pave the way for other groups to manipulate or pressurise the board into an action they may not want to take. My final concern is that it seems to undermine the democratic voting process that our community was involved with in the election of these candidates. Surely those who were voted onto the board are the ones that this Raetihi community wishes to be represented by. They are the ones this community has chosen and they are the ones the community is confident with in terms of fairness and adequacy for the task.

'Wondering'