Mayor's power and play

So you think you want to be a mayor?

With local body election nominations opening on July 23, LEE MATTHEWS finds out from Palmerston North Mayor Jono Naylor that the job is more complicated than clanking around wearing the mayoral chain and chairing endless committee meetings.

It's not every day a reporter gets to quiz a mayor on the hairiness of his legs, but some questions just have to be asked and answered. Undoubtedly it was the most eye-watering of the tasks Palmerston North city has demanded of Jono Naylor's mayoralty in the past three years – getting his legs waxed for Canteen fundraising, in the middle of The Square, complete with a news photographer's lens poised to capture the best wince.

So how hairy was it?

Let's put it this way, the wax was meant to be a knee-to-ankle job, but when Mr Naylor realised exactly how dense the leftover furry layer would look sandwiched between his bald kneecaps and his shorts hem, the waxer was asked to keep going.

"I hope it raised the organisation's profile," he said.

He describes the mayor's job as high-powered governance while simultaneously rubbing shoulders with every shade of humanity.

Two distinct skill sets were needed, half board chairman, half Mr Approachable.

Palmerston North's mayor chairs the governance body of an organisation with $1.36 billion of assets, and a $90 million turnover. But the office of mayor also requires outrageously good people skills – such as grace under fire while being pelted with wet sponges, in winter, during school fundraising fetes.

"The children and parents at Cornerstone Christian School had particularly superior aim," Mr Naylor said.

Unlike his colleague, Whanganui Mayor Michael Laws, Mr Naylor won't seek celebrity by lining up for Dancing with the Stars. His mantra's always been singing, yes, dancing, no, as he proved at an Indian community Diwali (New Year) celebration. He thoroughly enjoyed watching the Bollywood-style dancing, then organisers invited him on the stage.

"Just follow the girls, they said. Mmm."

It wasn't as bad as the world-famous-in-Palmerston North Boys' High shuffle (one step to the left, pause, one step to the right, all out of time with the beat), but it came close. Mr Naylor reckoned his dancing hadn't improved much since his Wairarapa College days.

Forget fancy footwork. Mr Naylor does sing, though, used to be in a rock band, and early in his mayoral term dusted off his vocal cords at a Birthright fundraiser. That led to singing with Dame Malvina Major at the city's annual Wine, Women and Song fundraiser, which in turn led to singing the national anthem before a New Zealand-Australia netball test. He was proud to do that – it raised the profile of Palmerston North.

Then there's all the ceremonial tree planting and sod turning. The council owns a special spade for this job, a vision of shiny stainless steel and attractive wood-grained handle, and it boasts a royal pedigree. Prince Charles used it once to plant a tree.

The other big job for any mayor is cutting ribbons. Mr Naylor doesn't have a special pair of mayoral scissors, so he's cut ribbons with scissors that range from the tiny safety plastics used in preschools to big, seriously sharp dressmaking shears.

One job that jumped out of his diary in the past month was toasting 100 years of holstein-friesian cattle breeding in New Zealand. Everyone was down in The Square, cows included, with nice big glasses of milk for the toasts.

"One of the cows sneezed. Thankfully the mucus went mostly over the chairman's glass, not mine. I don't know if he noticed but he manned up and drank it down anyway."

Another unsung mayoral qualification is sports participation. It pays to be fit. Mr Naylor plays third-grade men's hockey, but he's been called on for netball, volleyball, soccer, petanque and to cycle and run.

Celebrity sports teams tend to get thumped, but he fondly remembers a decisive victory when he opened the petanque club's new piste (rink). Probably that was exquisite courtesy on the president's part, because Mr Naylor described his petanque as strictly beach-barbecue level.

The point of these peculiar duties is to be accessible to all kinds of people. The mayor meets the important, the famous, the titled, the rich and international ambassadors, but also deals with the desperate who came to the mayor as a last-resort problem solver.

Mayor was a position that opened doors. The title could sometimes be used to put things right, as the office could connect people.

The cat-repair story was a case in point. Palmerston North mother Ari Emery asked for help to fix her cat's broken leg – she didn't have the $1800 needed for the medical treatment – because that particular cat meant the world to her four-year-old daughter, Parearau, very ill with cerebral palsy.

"We had a whip-round. And yes, I'll say it again, I put the last $350 of that on to the mayoral credit card, to be taken from my mayoral discretionary spending fund."

The depths of kindness and willingness to be involved and to help among Palmerston North's residents was a constant joy.

"I think one of the very best moments of my mayoralty was at the Special Olympics, watching the parade of all the hundreds of local volunteers who had helped. That was so moving."

Another essential skill set for a mayor is being able to talk to anyone about anything.

It's not exactly Small Talk 101, but among the mayor's speaking engagements this year have been talks to preschoolers, senior citizens, rocket scientists and prisoners being praised for successfully completing restorative justice programmes.

One senior citizens' meeting was mildly interesting. Somehow the word "speaker" had dropped from the invitation inviting Mr Naylor to be a guest.

"I arrived to see about 100 people facing an empty stage, waiting for me to fill it. I had four seconds, the four steps it took to get to the microphone, to come up with something."

He talked about community groups and how important they were.

One of his favourite jobs had been entertaining a party of preschoolers from the Seventh Day Adventist preschool. They came to visit the big important mayor in his big important office. Father-of-three Mr Naylor doesn't have an office toy box, so he did the next best thing.

"I hid little packets of chippies in the council chamber and we had a treasure hunt. I don't know what they told their parents that night about what the mayor does."

Probably the best piece of advice for the mayor's job came from former Palmerston North Mayor Sir Brian Elwood, who told Mr Naylor he'd be asked to do all sorts of things, but that the humour should never descend to village idiot.

"Have fun, get involved, but always remember there's a certain amount of dignity that goes with the Office of the Mayor."

- © Fairfax NZ News