NEW CITY COUNCIL

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 106, 7 May 1931, Page 10

NEW CITY COUNCIL

The new City Council will contain more- new members than usual, but old members will still be in the majority. All the sitting councillors wh6 sought re-election have been returned,. except Mr. Mitchell, and it is possible that a recount will yet give hini a" place. He has certainly deserved *t for his consistent, hard work for the community. It is possible to draw many conclusions from the result of the poll. One might say, for instance, that the re-election of old councillors is ; evidence of public satisfaction with civic administration. To some extent it does indicate that public dissatisfaction is not widespread; but it is well known that sitting councillors have a better chance than new men of securing election. Many voters are guided by the familiarity of the names or, as a cynic might say, they accept Hamlet's philosophy and rather bear those ills they have than fly to others that they know not of. So far as the tickets are concerned, the voting is not conclusive. Nine successful candidates had the support of both the Civic League and the Ratepayers' Association, two were endorsed by the Civic League alone, three by the Labour Party, and one by the Ratepayers' Association. It cannot be claimed that this result gives an emphatic endorsement to.either the association- or the league policy in so far as they differ. Rather it may be interpreted as a vote for economy wilh sound administration if that economy can be brought about without a drastic curtailment of city services.