Skinner keen to boost Nelson as mayor
Tim Skinner says the next mayor should champion Nelson, and he’s prepared to be the one to do it.
Skinner said he hoped for a council table with a diverse array of political thought, and with ‘‘no hard feelings’’ and with mutual respect at the end of the day regardless of how the votes go.
He said he considered the mayoral role as less the captain of a ship, rather than a member of a crew that needed to work together.
Skinner is one of two mayoral candidates who is also running for a spot at the table as a councillor. He said he hoped this election would bring more humility to the council table, and more public consultation and engagement.
‘‘I think for getting our priorities right, we have got to get our engagement right; that’s something that’s been lacking,’’ he said.
‘‘I put it to political interference. In the past we had a variety of views round the table. This time we had a council that was blinkered by political party ideology. We had this arrogance around the table of ‘we know what’s best for you’. I hope for this election that there’s a real humbling.’’
He said he was ready to represent the entire community, even though he had been ‘‘given a hard time for listening to minority groups’’.
‘‘I’ve stood very strong on my principles, I’ve never abstained [from voting] – this time will be no different,’’ he said.
However, one thing he would not stand for was the obstruction of democracy.
Skinner had a code of conduct complaint upheld against him for physically pushing a protester at Civic House.
‘‘I have apologised to her, but she had no right to be there,’’ he said. He said in the aftermath there was ‘‘a lot of political bullying going on, and side-taking’’, but he was humbled by the community support he had received.
‘‘There’s things I should have handled differently, but I meant no harm. From those sorts of situations, that’s made me a stronger person, it’s taught me a lot.’’
Skinner said his strong ties within the community and also with other councils and would use those connections to ‘‘champion Nelson’’. One way he intended to do that was to band together with Marlborough and Tasman District Councils to push for the three top of the South councils to be included in the Three Waters South Island entity, to make the best out of a bad situation.
‘‘In the top of the South, Nelson has been a bit of an outlier for the wrong reasons ... We as a force can push back and say ‘this is what the public really need’.’’
He also said the council should ‘‘re-look at’’ the library project, given the new priorities brought about by August’s storm, and in particular a re-focusing on flood and inundation preparation.
He also said he wanted to support businesses in their ongoing recovery.
‘‘Some of our ideological decisions have hindered growth. Some of the parking strategies have made it difficult, rates increases, although some have been hit more than others.’’
‘‘Some of our ideological decisions have hindered growth.’’
Tim Skinner