Passionate about district, dedicated to hard work

Gary Kircher

Age: 58 Occupation: Marital status:

Why do you want to be mayor?

I’m as enthusiastic as I have ever been for our wonderful district and I’m very keen to continue my hard work for our community to help Waitaki thrive. Being a mayor in the current environment is demanding and challenging, but I am up for that. More than ever, strong, inclusive leadership is needed and I truly hope that I’m given the opportunity to serve.

There are only two people in this race. What do you bring to the table that makes you a better choice than your competitor?

I bring credibility, a reputation for working hard for Waitaki and a strong passion for our district that is evident from Kerry’s and my decision to raise our family here.

I also bring an unmatched level of experience that will prove significant over the next three years as we face the challenges of major reforms for water services, resource management, health services and the reform of local government itself.

I’ve been privileged to lead an effective councillor team — with at least four new councillors coming on board, I will work with the new team to help it be effective and to deliver for our community.

What do you believe the council is doing well at the moment, and where has it fallen short?

Council has many great people, but they work in a system which often doesn’t mesh together well, creating inefficiency. We must do better. That is exactly what we are addressing with our recently announced transformation programme. Since 1989, successive governments have passed on more and more commitments to councils. That’s resulted in incremental changes being made to council processes, but it’s time for us to look at the whole system. It’s time for it to work more cohesively than ever before.

And it’s time to utilise new technology to improve our customers’ experience. I want a council that our residents are proud of and where our staff are proud to work.

What are two main issues people in the Waitaki are facing at the moment?

Roading is critical for much of what we do and there is significant pressure on many parts of our roading network.

Overall affordability is a major issue, not just from rates, but the overall cost of living.

How would you address these issues?

I am very actively working with our fellow councils to get more funding from the Government for our funding partner, NZTA.

More demand on roads + less funding = failing roads.

NZTA’s budget must be increased to match our investment so that our roads can be properly maintained to cope with the increased demands on them. Also, I want to see better prioritisation of our local roading projects to ensure we get the best bang for ratepayers’ bucks.

We’ve been involved in several key projects designed to improve affordability.

Waitaki’s new economic development strategy will potentially bring us another 1350 jobs over the next 10 years, and also help lift real wages, through better skills development and greater job opportunities.

For improved housing affordability, we are now working with other organisations to increase the total housing stock, providing more options for people in the rental and firsthome markets.

A major issue is social housing, and we are talking closely with Kainga Ora (Housing NZ) to provide more homes for those in need.