A guide to help concerned citizens organise for the next election
By Andrew Bydder, Hamilton City Councillor
[The post is the 1st page of an 18-page document: Read the full document here… HOW TO FIX COUNCILS]
I spent 30 years working with councils from the outside as an architectural designer and property developer before being elected to Hamilton City Council in 2022. I fought the ever-increasing bureaucracy that transformed resource consents from simple 1-page applications to year-long 1,000-page multi-consultant expensive battles for no discernible benefit other than covering staff butts. Frustrated, I started looking into council structure, joining the Hamilton Residents and Ratepayers Association, and writing a weekly column for the Waikato Times on council failures. Since getting elected, I have dug deeper into the internal organisation, working out where the problems are, and how to fix them.
You have been hit with the first round of massive rates rises. There are more to come. You have read worrying figures of exploding council debt. You have noticed cost blowouts on everything the council touches. You have certainly been affected by speed bumps and realised that the worsening congestion is deliberately caused by council roading projects. And if you have ever had to deal with council directly on any building consent or resource consent, you will share my frustration! You know your council is no longer working for you. You know the system is broken.
The good news is that YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Ask around and you will find many people who are also wondering if they are the only ones who can see the madness and wondering why nobody is stopping it. Most good people, the practical & commonsense workers, are too busy keeping New Zealand functioning, paying taxes, and employing others, with little enough time for our own families to take much interest in council politics. This is why the bastards are winning.
This guide is to help YOU take on councils with whatever time you can spare. It is based on a team of good people sharing the work.
The October 2025 council elections are our best chance to fix councils. It is also our last chance. Another three years of woke indoctrination, rates rises, debt blowouts, speed bumps, and red tape will cripple our country. We need to work together to stop the rot and turn councils around.
I have written this to share my experience so that you don’t have to waste time working out the system. There will be follow-up information shared from experts working with me.
Those of you who can spare the time to stand for council will need to read and understand all of this and form a network with like-minded people. Some of you will prefer to help in the background within your own areas of expertise. Take from this guide as much as you need and link up with the good candidates. Most of you just need to support the network. You will know who to support because they will acknowledge this manual. Support can be financial, spare time, connections, marketing, and simply inspiring people to vote this time. It will be hard because most people have given up on councils listening to them, but we need you to try.
Even the National-led coalition government has realised the need for councils to get back to basics. That’s great, but we can’t rely on politicians to fix politics. We have to do it ourselves.
[Continue reading at HOW TO FIX COUNCILS ]
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