A second candidate has come forward for the Waitaki mayoralty.
Former deputy mayor Gary Kircher has announced he will seek the role in the October local body elections.
Incumbent Alex Familton announced earlier this month he would stand for a third term as mayor. Mr Kircher, who came second behind Mr Familton in the 2010 election, said he had had a steady stream of people asking him to be a candidate.
He had spent nine years as a Waitaki district councillor in the Oamaru ward. He would not stand as a councillor this time.
Mr Kircher said he had ''the enthusiasm, the experience and the ability'' to be mayor.
''We are facing some huge challenges in the district. These challenges include the consequences of the earthquake-prone building policy being debated by Parliament. If this is not handled well, towns like Oamaru will face an economic challenge which will cripple them.''
Council policies were discouraging business investment and expansion, Mr Kircher said. He believed ''numerous efficiencies'' could be made in the way the council operated.
''I want a town where there are opportunities for our young people as well as our older people, where the economy is strong and diverse and we have schools with growing rolls, not shrinking ones. This will only happen with strong leadership and vision.''
Mr Kircher has owned a number of businesses in the district that employed local people. For the past 15 months he has been a work broker at Work and Income. He chairs the Otago Chamber of Commerce's North Otago Committee and the Steampunk NZ Trust and is a member of the Weston Progress League.
He has also served on the Sport Otago board and the Otago Community Trust.
- Sally Brooker.
