Chris Proctor, 17, and Bowen Steffert, 18, really like Rush Munro’s ice cream.
So when a tirade of public opinion came at them and their fellow Hastings Youth Councillors for daring to be a part of the democratic process, they needed something to take the heat off.
Even as everything started to snowball around them, a cold cone for each of the council members did the trick.
A bouncy council was erected by the Taxpayers’ Union outside the Hastings District Council last month, as the union protested young people having voting rights on the council committees.
Taxpayers’ Union spokesman — and former Hastings District Youth Councillor — Jordan Williams said New Zealanders wanted adults to get back in charge at councils.
Williams said he knew “a little bit about being one of the twerps on the youth council because I was one of them”.
Proctor — Chairperson of the Youth Council and a Lindisfarne College student — said none of them had experienced anything like the surreal backlash.
“It was a vertical learning curve. We expected tough questions, because it was so controversial, even though in our minds it was a no-brainer.
“We had to learn to deal with it as a group and we supported each other… you do stuff together to get through it.”
Proctor said a lot of “misinformation” was spread around the council’s eventual resolution to allow voting rights for the Youth Councillors, who sit on a subcommittee rather than the full council.
“We are not going to be deciding how much rates go up,” Proctor said.
“But we might get to vote on where road cones go on this road, or that one.”
While council has passed a resolution to give Youth Council voting rights — if it wishes — on committees and/or sub-committees, no decisions enabled by that resolution have been made and no youth votes have been cast.
A process for how it might be managed is being considered.
“If the council decides to go ahead with this, we will only have voting rights on subcommittees and we already have speaking rights at these committees,” Proctor said.
“We had a crack and, if it doesn’t go ahead, we will move on and try something else. It would be disappointing, but we don’t have any regrets.”
Proctor said their biggest opposition was the Taxpayers’ Union.
“I know it’s their job but they were tough to deal with. We wanted to take the high road every time.”
Youth council deputy chairperson Bowen Steffert, 18, said it wouldn’t be a political issue if two different opinions weren’t formed about it.
But he found it ironic that the people against allowing them voting rights “called us names including ‘clipboard-bearing losers’ and ‘twerps’.”
“They called us children and other names, pretty ironic. I learned a lot from that,” he said.
“I’ve never seen a clipboard at a youth council meeting, but we took one in as a mascot after that.”
Proctor said the council was divided 50/50 on the decision and it was similar in the community as well. While they have had negative feedback, they have also had lots of positive including “heaps of emails congratulating us”.
“It was pretty awesome,” Steffert said of those behind them. “There were lots of supporters in council chambers.”
The Hastings Boys’ High School student said it was his third year on the youth council and he’s never learned so much.
“There were discussions at the beginning of the year as to whether we wanted to go down a more political path. We still run events and raise money for community grants.
“But we all agreed that we wanted to focus more on the political education side of thing – look where it’s taken us.
“Also, we are not getting paid. We have never said we wanted to be paid. It wasn’t in our proposal. We talked about donating it if it happens, but that’s all in the council’s hands now.”
Proctor said if youth don’t have a voice, someone else is going to speak for them.
“It’s a huge issue nationwide. We have started a bigger conversation than we ever thought possible.”
He said the reason youth weren’t voting was because they didn’t know who to vote for and that they thought their vote wouldn’t make a difference.
“But youth can make a difference, what you do does matter.”
Steffert said he was delighted people were talking about the idea of voting rights for youth councillors both in and outside of Hawke’s Bay.
“Hopefully it will inspire others. It’s pretty cool.”
Proctor will be back on Youth Council next year while Steffert is off to university in Auckland as an aerospace engineer and says he can see himself in politics in years to come.
“I love it.”
To become a youth councillor, candidates must submit a video along with a written application, and then undergo an interview. There are 17 youth councillors representing schools throughout the Hastings region in 2024.
This year, along with their political advocacy, they have raised more than $1500 for youth grants, with fundraising led by youth councillor Keaton Pitcher.
By Linda Hall of Local Democracy Reporting
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air