Journalists seem naturally attracted to the democratic process.

In most cases, they can be assigned report council meetings.

Unconscionably, they also become part of the process.

More recently in New Zealand, a former community newspaper editor K Gurunathan swapped roles as Editor of a newspaper, was elected to council and is now Mayor of Kapiti.

A high profile is helpful.

Electronic media hosts – radio and TV – are more successful.

Some radio jocks stand for public office to lift ratings. In Rotorua in the early 2000s, a DJ was elected to the Rotorua District Council.

Matthew Martin, erstwhile reporter for Rotorua's Daily Post, is in a different league.

A year on since he resigned from the paper following a spell of ill-health, he is pursuing an elected role with the Rotorua Lakes Council.

A working knowledge of process, and an eye for the nuances of politics at local level, Matthew is not rare among print journalists seeking such office. Nor has always been a reporter.

He worked in the field as a surveyor, assisting his father, Luke, one of Rotorua's thinkers.

The peripatetic Matthew lived variously in Eindhoven, Brussels, London and Adelaide, before returning to Bay of Plenty in June 2001 where he lived in and worked in Rotorua and Tauranga.

A permanent return to Rotorua took him to a general journalism role in 2007.

Armed with a BA in media studies, he slipped into the role quickly, as he knew personally some of those on whom he would report.

He covered, he says, hundreds of council meetings – planning hearings and committee meetings.

'I feel I have a pretty good handle on standing orders and processes,” Matthew says. 'I've watched councillors with a sound knowledge of process really get things done.”

Slow as the democratic process is, Matthew sponged the minutiae of council agendas.

He also saw personalities come into play.

Often, the politician you see in debate seems at odds of the personality you meet in the street, at fairs, cutting ribbons, glad handing dignitaries. Not Jekyll and Hide, more Hillary and Jeremy.
What do you make of the cult of the personality in politics?
'Sadly politics is riddled with ‘personalities', who in most cases are not up to the task, but I'm pleased to say there's not a lot of that happening here in Rotorua. I feel it distracts people from the real issues.
The two serious mayoral candidates Steve Chadwick and Reynold Macpherson offer different perspectives, he says.

'They are two very different candidates and Rotorua's only serious options for mayor at this early stage. I do think the gulf between them is wide and getting wider as time goes on.
'One has a proven track record in central government, and now local government, the other has a proven track record in the management of large institutions and an academic background.
'They are strong individuals who know what they want to achieve in their very own distinct styles. '
He emphasises his 'fierce” independence. Nor is he aligned to any party.
Infrastructure and debt reduction are two key planks.
What you make of past references to the ‘Mayor's bloc' and terms like ‘regime' and ‘corrupt practice' as they relate to the incumbent by the challenger (I forgot to throw in ‘tyranny' for good measure)?
'I'm sure if there was any hint of corruption going on in our council it would have bubbled to the surface by now considering the numerous financial audits the council has gone through over the past few years. If there is, in fact, a ‘power bloc' it seems that the challenger's organisation simply wants to replace it with his own.
Has the rhetoric been too vitriolic or justified?
'Only in few cases I've seen has the rhetoric been justified, such as the Mudtopia festival debacle, but in the main I find it unwarranted, in particular, the personal attacks on councillors and council staff.”
Though current councils carry the burden of increasing debt of the past, is it fair to ignore the sins of the past – for example, the farce over the airport which overnight burdened ratepayers by some $60 million?
'The fact is we are saddled with this debt due to the mistakes of the past, but if we are to move on we must learn from those mistakes and set them right. The airport upgrade had to take place to maintain a very important piece of infrastructure; however, paying Air New Zealand almost a million dollars a year [one count in 2016 put the figure closer to $2m] for nine years for the airline to operate an uneconomic international route to Sydney, and to keep it secret from the public, was almost unforgivable. There are still councillors sitting at the table who allowed this to happen.
'In terms of inter-generational debt, it is almost impossible to see the council becoming debt free anytime in the next few decades. To pay back large sums in the short term would place far too great a burden on ratepayers and see important services cut.
'Right now, we have to make decisions that will not see future councils drowning in debt to a point, it becomes difficult to maintain basic infrastructure. We have already seen the effects of climate change and poor planning on the council's coffers with millions of unbudgeted dollars being spent repairing damage caused to housing developments in Ngongotaha and flooding on Paradise Valley Road.