Former Labour minister Andrew Little launched his bid for Wellington mayor in the capital today, promising to increase transparency and deliver strong financial management.
“I think Wellington City Council can do better.
“The council can manage its spending a lot more effectively including its capital spending,” Andrew Little said.
One of his policies is establishing an external capital advisory group to make sure project costs are realistic to reduce the risk of a budget blow out.
Little said Wellingtonians have lost trust in the council and policies of his that will increase trust include requiring community impact statements, like Government regulatory impact statements, for major decisions, prioritising funding for pools and libraries and restricting the use of public exclusion from council meetings unless there is a genuinely sensitive issue.
“My track record in public office is one of leaning towards public openness.
“Probably the thing I’m proudest of is when I was Minister for the Pike River [mine] recovery. A lot of public interest in that and we started out from the outset saying ‘We’re going to be as open as we can.’
“Every paper I got whether it was technical advice, or policy advice or financial advice went up onto a website within 30 days of the paper being received… I don’t see any reason why we can’t shift towards that approach as opposed to the locked up, buttoned down, keep people out as much as possible approach.”
Five other men are currently in the running for the top job including Kelvin Hastie, Councillor Ray Chung, Karl Tiefenbacher, Rob Goulden and Graham Bloxham.
Mayor Tory Whanau pulled out of the race in late April, around a fortnight after Andrew Little announced his candidacy.
Ray Chung has run for mayor before and is currently a Wellington councillor.
“I want everyone to feel as if they’re safe to come in here. It’s not a dangerous place so we’ve got to take away the reasons that I think it’s dangerous in here,” he said about Wellington’s central streets. He’s also campaigning on improving the council’s governance and cutting costs.
He’s not the only one who has run for the top job before, with conservationist Kelvin Hastie coming sixth last time.
Hastie’s known for inspiring Wellington’s predator-free trapping movement.
“I’d like to see us bring in other Councils into our into our council and that way we can look at reducing duplication and get rates lower within the region,” Hastie said.
Businessman Karl Tiefenbacher is also campaigning on helping Wellington City Council improve its finances.
“So it’s not carrying on with projects that are financially really unviable such as the gold and my all the cycle ways, the organic waste.
“It’s about changing the culture within the council as well so that we have a culture that actually works for people and becomes a ‘Yes, how can I help?” council versus one that actually puts barriers in the way of people progressing.”
Graham Bloxham also wants to unite councillors by bringing a “common new vision.”
“If you’re straight up and you’re honest and you come with integrity, I can unite those people,” he said.
He’s a content creator for Facebook page Wellington Live which has come under controversy.
“I come with a full heart and major mana and ability to work with business and make them bring better deals for Wellington and I mean that because we need to get Wellington’s costs down.”
Another candidate is Rob Goulden, who has previously served in the police and army. He’s also been a Wellington councillor before.
Goulden said he’s used music to unite people throughout his life and enjoys singing. He now runs a security company and motorcycle club.
“I don’t belong to any political party.
“I’m standing as an independent… my views are pretty centrist I think and we need more of that, to be frank.”
Goulden said reducing council costs is a focus, if he’s elected.
“The thing that needs to be dealt with, not overnight, but certainly with great importance is the finances where we’ve been heading down this track of debt, which has real ramifications for people.”