In Cromwell, about 100 people attended an event at the Cromwell Presbyterian Church organised by the Cromwell Lions and Rotary Clubs.
Three Waters, silt and lake weed on Lake Dunstan, future local government reforms and development were all hot topics.
It was a polite affair until the Otago Regional Council candidates arrived and shots were fired during their four minutes on the microphone.
The appearance of ORC Dunedin constituency candidate "Slime the Nitrate Monster" — who will appear on ballot papers as Jenn Shulzitski — also caused a stir.
Before the meeting, Slime told the Otago Daily Times they were at the meeting to applaud their fellow ORC councillors who work in irrigation and industrial agriculture for standing up for slime in the waterways.
"I’m concerned we’re talking about turning the tap down on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, which allows us to have more grass, more cows and more excess nutrients that flow into our waterways," Slime told councillors.
Down the road in Alexandra, the meet the candidates evening at Central Stories Art Gallery and Museum started calmly, but became heated over funding of the museum and continued in that vein as the discussion moved into infrastructure funding in general.
Candidates for the ORC led the evening so they could then go to a similar meeting in Cromwell, and Michael Laws got the laugh of the night when he said his cat kills more rabbits than the ORC.
The lack of young faces was notable in the audience but how to attract and keep young people in the community was an issue raised during question time.
Jayden Cromb, who is standing for the Vincent Ward and Vincent Community Board, said his children would be the seventh generation in Central Otago and housing availability was important to keep young people in the region.
He said that being young and Maori was a big part of who he is, but not everything. "I’m also a resident of Central Otago and that is the most important part."
Candidates answered a series of prepared questions, the first being whether the information centre should return to Central Stories.
Most answers were negative, with Tamah Alley, who hopes to be returned as a Vincent ward councillor, saying the i-Site and information centre were "no longer fit for purpose".
A question from the floor over the funding of Central Stories made the passions felt on the matter apparent, with politeness lost in at least one interjection.
Both Mrs Alley and Martin McPherson, also standing for council again, said Vincent ward ratepayers should not be paying twice for the museum, through the community board and the council.
Tracie Barrett and Shannon Thomson
