Tony Randle was the exactly the type of person, the sort of brain, you want sitting round a council table. 

Especially given the types who now seem to occupy many of the seats.

It's very sad to hear of his passing. My condolences to his family and those who knew him well. 

For those who didn't, Tony was a councillor in Wellington. He sat on the Northern ward. 

He was the guy you'd call when you wanted to know the facts of a case. 

When you wanted to know the numbers. 

Tony was the guy who found a wee mistake in the council's modelling when they were lowering speed limits. 

Not a single councillor, or a council officer, staff member, or council-paid boffin picked up on the mistake. 

But Tony did. It was out by a quarter of a billion bucks. 

He consistently complained that the council wasn't fully funding Wellington water's project, meaning the pipes weren't getting fixed.

He was analytical and not particularly partisan. 

Too often you hear of local and national politicians getting into office who probably shouldn't be there. They've no particular skills or background that justify it. 

They're elected by a margin of a few hundred, or even a few dozen votes, by a public that doesn't really pay attention to the details. 

As a result, you get politicians who also don't pay attention to the details. 

But Tony Randle did and that's what made him special. 

Voters deserve more analytical thinkers in local government who are across the facts and the numbers, rather than ticking a box on their way to Parliament or the UN, where you get the sense a lot of them wish they could be.