Second bid for Porirua mayoralty
Western ward councillor Mike Duncan has announced a run for the Porirua mayoralty.
It’s the second tilt at the top job for the Titahi Bay man, who came third in the 2016 mayoral race.
‘‘I’m a straight-up guy, I say what I think, I’m honest, fair, equitable, community-minded, reflective, and I act with integrity,’’ Duncan said.
‘‘I’ve lived here almost all my life, and all my kids live here, so I have a really vested interest in this city.’’
Duncan is the third councillor to announce a run against incumbent Mike Tana. He said he was likely to seize on the same STV strategy as other candidates.
Councillor Anita Baker and former deputy mayor ‘Ana Coffey are encouraging voters to also cast votes for the other, with Baker encouraging voters to rank her first and Coffey second on the ballot, and vice versa for Coffey. That way, under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system in Porirua, the votes will go to the other candidate if one of them isn’t successful.
Duncan said that while he would not criticise Tana’s efforts as mayor – ‘‘I think overall he’s done a good job’’ – the election had become an ‘‘open field’’ and it was good to offer voters more choice.
‘‘There is potential for Mike to lose, so if he does, he might as well lose it to me.’’
A grandfather of 17, Duncan said his campaign would be a family-run affair.
‘‘I want to see less polarising. We emphasise far too much diversity than we do unity. We want our own city to thrive and do well – the way we’re going to do that is by coming together, not separating ourselves into little groups.
‘‘With the opening of Transmission Gully, Porirua will change from being a dormitory suburb to the beating heart of the region.’’
A cruciverbalist – someone who creates crosswords – Duncan said that with such a lot of grandchildren, he didn’t get much spare time.
‘‘We’ve traded in the ute to buy a nine-seater bus.’’