A ‘rich palette’ of council candidates
Whatever happens in the election, there should be a good mix around the New Plymouth District Council table, a candidates’ forum has heard.
Positive Ageing’s Lance Girling-Butcher made the comments at an event co-hosted by Grey Power at the St James Church, Lawry St, yesterday afternoon, and it was a full house.
About 250 seniors came to hear New Plymouth District Council candidates speak and answer random questions.
The six mayoral candidates each got four minutes to state their case, and while serious issues were discussed there was also time for levity.
Incumbent mayor Neil Holdom told the story of winning the 2016 election and phoning his wife to say he’d got a new job.
‘‘She said, ‘Which one?’ And I said, ‘Um, it’s the big one.’
‘‘She’s a wonderful woman and she said, ‘What a disaster.’ She has forgiven me.’’
Looking ahead, he said the district council would continue to provide services including water and wastewater, rubbish and recycling, and a green area or playground within 500 metres for those living in town for an average $45 a week in rates, and it would be hard to find a contractor to give a quote like that.
Fellow mayoral candidate Kuvarji, who is also standing for a council seat, told the audience she was a grassroots person, not a politician.
‘‘I’m from the people, for the people,’’ she said.
Max Brough said he had been in business since he was 18 and is now 55. ‘‘I look at things from a customer’s perspective.’’
Bill Simpson said he wanted to see a Grey Power building in the middle of town, and Greg Mackay spoke of dealing with council finances.
Irene Godkin spoke of her accounting experience and the need to follow international standards of integrity.
Council candidates each got three minutes to speak. In total, 23 of the 30 candidates for the city ward attended.
Yarrow Stadium was among the topics discussed, despite the fact that the decision has already been signed off.
‘‘I haven’t found one person in favour,’’ council candidate Mike Crow said.
‘‘We’ve been bludgeoned into a corner about this, and there’s no way out at this point in time,’’ Bruce Gatward-Cook said.
Gordon Brown said he had always been ‘‘dead against’’ the $50 million repair and upgrades, and added that if the rugby team had a playoff game they could take it to the Len Lye Centre as ‘‘there’s plenty of space there’’.
The district council’s governance lead, Julie Straka, gave a brief rundown on the single transferable vote system, and new council candidates then got randomly selected to answer random questions.
Anneka Carlson was asked whether there should be fluoride in the drinking water and said she wanted to do more research.
Amanda Clinton-Gohdes was asked whether more e-scooters should be encouraged. She said they were part of the transport system but things had to be in place to keep everyone safe.
Asked how he would reduce rates, David Bublitz said it was very difficult to do but they could reduce the amount by which rates go up and he was sure the district council tried to keep it to a minimum.
Girling-Butcher congratulated the hopefuls at the end of the meeting, saying there was a ‘‘rich palette’’ of candidates.
‘‘To keep the analogy going, we should have a very rich tapestry on our council.’’
Yesterday’s story, reporting Tuesday’s meet the candidates evening, said Phil Quinney was the only candidate who supported the $50 million Yarrow Stadium spend. He has asked us to clarify his position: While he does not support the $50m spend, he felt everyone should ‘‘move on’’ when it came to the issue.