MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21349, 25 November 1932, Page 10

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

The Municipal Corporations Bil] provides for triennial elections. No serious objection is likely to be taken to Mayors and members of councils holding office for a term of three years, which should be in the interests of administrative efficiency. Particularly in the cities, where the responsibilities of local office demand a high degree of specialised knowledge and experience, the change will be beneficial. A new member has much to leai-n, and for too large a part of a two-year term he must depend upon the guidance of others familiar with the complexities of local government. In addition to the change saving some costs to the ratepayers there is the important factor of reducing the periods of civic turmoil which often have no justifiable cause. Of more than passing interest is the deliberate a id orderly manner in which the change is proposed to be effected. Elections are to be held in 1933 on the due date, and there will be one more term of two years. Only from 1935 will the three-year rotation begin. This arrangement is in sharp contrast with Parliament's own procedure on a similar matter. Without a mandate from the electorate the Government decided to prolong the life of the present Parliament. The indecent haste shown in this instance serves to give special dignity to the municipal proposal. A four-year Parliamentary term is of course as desirable as a longer term for Mayors and members of councils. Complaint rests solely upon the extension without warrant.