Rankin takes third shot at mayoralty
Taupō ’s deputy mayor says she’s ready to step up and lead the district, pledging to protect Taupō ’s unique identity from Government interference and open new lines of communication with residents.
Christine Rankin moved to Taupō eight years ago and has been on the Taupō District Council for six years, the last three as deputy mayor. She’s also been an elected representative for Taupō on the former Lakes District Health Board for the last two terms.
The former head of the Department of Social Welfare is a business coach and professional speaker who said she’s ‘‘hooked on local government’’ and had represented Taupō residents as an ‘‘active and forthright councillor’’.
‘‘I love Taupō , I don’t know why we didn’t move here a lot earlier, it’s a great place to live, but there are challenges we need to deal with.’’
Rankin said her slogan for this campaign was ‘‘your vote has never mattered more’’ and said she would ‘‘fight until the end’’ against the proposed Three Waters legislation and be a strong and courageous voice for Taupō during the local government reform process.
‘‘Three Waters is a disaster for our community and completely unnecessary. Yes, there are problems with water nationwide, but the structure and processes attached would never be created by any intelligent business – it’s an embarrassment.
‘‘This Government is hell-bent on central control and if this is not managed and led strongly the Taupō district could end up the small tail on a big dog with little community involvement or control.’’
She believes there had been a big gap in how the council communicated with its residents and wanted the council to be more open and accessible.
‘‘That gap could be filled by direct public meetings throughout the district on a very regular basis,’’ she said. ‘‘Trusting people and sharing ideas with them does more for the community than holding any information back.’’
Rankin said Taupō was growing fast, and at some point the council would have to slow down and take stock.