The young ones
Christchurch’s city council has just become a lot younger and a little more diverse.
Three 20-somethings have been elected to the council and six women will sit around the table, including re-elected mayor Lianne Dalziel. Last term there were five women and no councillors aged under 30.
Six new councillors will join 10 incumbents after three former councillors – Vicki Buck, Raf Manji and Phil Clearwater – did not seek re-election and another three – Glenn Livingstone, David East and Deon Swiggs – were ousted following Saturday’s vote.
At 23, financial adviser Catherine Chu is the youngest councillor to be elected this term.
She will represent Riccarton, Buck’s former seat. Another young newcomer is Jake McLellan, who is 27 and will represent Central ward after ousting Swiggs whose campaign was embroiled in controversy.
Accountant Sam MacDonald, 28, romped home in Waimairi, a ward vacated by Manji, with the fourth largest majority across council. The under-30 trio were all community board members last term.
Chu, who has also been elected on to the Canterbury District Health Board, said she was surprised to win both seats and did not expect such a big majority in the ward. She received 2392 votes – 1454 more than her closest rival, Anthony Rimell, who got 938.
The BNZ private banking manager, who represents the Right-leaning Independent Citizens, said she did not realise she would be the youngest councillor until someone pointed it out on Saturday night. ‘‘It is really good to see a bit of fresh blood ... when you have got young people, they bring a fresh perspective.’’
Local body politics has become a family affair for Chu with her older sister, Linda Chen, re-elected on to the Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood Community Board.
MacDonald, also representing Independent Citizens, said his win was an endorsement of his campaign message, which was financial discipline and putting a priority on the basics.
He works for Downer NZ but said he would be drastically scaling his hours back so he could focus on the council.
McLellan, a Labour Party organiser, said one of his first priorities would be to improve the state of Linwood Village and he had a list of 250 small tasks to complete after talking to people during his campaign.
When asked if he believed the Swiggs saga helped him get elected, McLellan said his polling showed he would have had a
narrow victory anyway. ‘‘We were confident of doing it.’’
The Left-leaning People’s Choice again has seven councillors but will face stiffer opposition from the Right-leaning Independent Citizens party, which has increased its representation from one to three, a move that reduces the number of independent councillors from eight to six.
Other new councillors include local businessman Phil Mauger, who out-polled Livingstone to win Burwood. Mauger got 4212 votes while Livingstone received
2962 votes. Last election Livingstone won with the biggest majority of all the councillors.
In the Coastal ward, former radio personality James Daniels, who received 2742 votes, won the seat ahead of East, who received
2423 votes.
People’s Choice candidate Melanie Coker took out the Spreydon ward with 3523 votes ahead of Peter Gatonyi on 1219.
Coker, 41, who owns tutoring business Ahead Start, said that after serving two terms on the Spreydon-Cashmere Community Board she knew the community and understood how the council worked.
Former radio personalty Daniels, 64, said he was humbled to have been chosen to represent Coastal. ‘‘I have been a ratepayer here since the 1970s and I still live here and I care.’’
Daniels, who is on the board of Nga¯ i Tahu Property and Te Papa Museum, was not sure if he would remain on those boards but said he would declare any conflicts if they arose.
Mauger, 61, who owns Mauger Contracting Ltd, said he was going to put his heart and soul into the role.
The councillors will now collect an annual salary of $97,280.