Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull has faced a big first term, grappling with multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls, increasing debt levels and a city facing mounting job losses.
But Mr Cull insists he stands on a record of achievement, from cycleways to the city's economic development strategy, despite the criticisms of his eight opponents.
And, after three years grappling with the previous council's ''landmines'', he tells the Otago Daily Times he is looking forward to the future.
Why are you standing again?
I think there's two parts to the job of being mayor and being on the council.
One is supervising the provision of services and facilities, and the priorities that go around that, and the other is the forward planning stuff for the city ...
We came in and there were some major challenges around debt, transparency of governance of some of our companies, and the way the place operated, and we've worked through those. We've by no means put them to bed, but they have been turned around and they're under control.
I would like now to be able to focus more positively on positive things we're doing, rather than mending things.
What are the major issues you see coming up in the next term?
I think we really need to get our teeth into implementing the economic development strategy, in its various facets, because clearly for a number of reasons, partly demographics, partly history, whatever, Dunedin's economy is not as buoyant as we would like it to be.
I think we've identified where the risks are and we've identified where the opportunities are and what our strengths are.
Now, we need to build on it.
Do you see the strategy as the best and only way to do that, or are there other initiatives outside the strategy that could help?
It's important not to see an economic development strategy as being here and hermetically sealed ... if you create a good community environment, people who want jobs and businesses will be more inclined to come and want to settle here.
The two go hand-in-hand.
So, to what extent does your desire to look forward a bit more in the next term involve new investment and new money?
It can't involve a huge amount of new investment because we have to keep constraining spending.
We know that.
We have to keep constraining borrowing. We know that, too.
So I see it as partnerships ... That's not to say the council and ratepayers won't have to contribute something, but it needn't be just `we'll buy this'.
Do you have a priority project for the next three years, if re-elected?
I come back to reshaping the economy, or the economic impetus of the city, in ways that address the changes in the world and in the economy.
We're at the end of the line and if your markets are miles away, it's going to be much harder for you to produce heavy goods and ship them cost-effectively.
We've got to reshape our economy so we're producing (a) what the world wants; (b) what we can afford to ship and; (c), the kind of product lines that are built on the strengths we have.
And the strengths that we have are the tertiary sector and research and IT and design and that kind of thing.
The other is looking ahead and saying 'We know that there are challenges. The world, economically, climatically, environmentally, is not settled ... it's planning for the kind of city that we know we're going to need to have, taking into account those challenges. It's no good saying `we'll wait until the water's lapping up around our knees and then we'll do something about it'.
What would your vision of the city be in 20 years?
I think the city in 20 years will be comprehensively digitally connected, it will probably have considerably more public transport or alternative modes than we have now - buses, bikes - and that's not shutting down cars. It's just making sure that there are choices.
If some of the energy depletion scenarios play out, I suspect we will have stronger urban hubs than we do now, where people won't necessarily want to drive right across town to do everything they do.
What I would like is to have a city that continues to sustain the environment and wildlife that we've been blessed with now.
Do you therefore face a dilemma - whether to support oil and gas exploration for its economic benefits, or oppose it because of the environmental threat?
Yes I do. That's a real conflict ... I think the planet should probably say 'Why don't we turn our attention to alternative energy sources now' because we're going to have to sometime.
That decision ultimately won't be made by me, and it won't be made by this council. It's a government decision.
So you, personally, are opposed to oil and gas exploration?
I think, in principle, the world should be coming to the end of exploiting new oil, and more difficult oil and more risky oil.
There's good evidence to show if you poured the same amount of investment into developing alternative energy sources you would get a better return.
How well do you think you have done as mayor?
It depends to some extent what you think the mayor's role is ... If I look at what the challenges were, then I think that I have led the council to consensually addressing them pretty constructively and, to that extent, I think I've been pretty successful.
What major failures have you been involved in?
There are probably one or two spending decisions that I would look at differently now, that I might not have agreed to.
There was a little bit of extra spending early on for the stadium [$5.15 million in 2011] for some extra kitchens and things, which we were led to believe were absolutely essential, and I look back on them and think they weren't.
You made controversial comments about the Otago Rugby Football Union and the Dalai Lama. Is there anything you would do differently there?
I'd express myself differently in some instances, yes.
Have you done enough to control debt?
Yes, I think we've done everything we can. We've ... reduced the term of the stadium debt, and by doing that we've saved $128 million over the period of the loan.
We've cut out or deferred capital expenditure of about $50 million ... and the other thing we've done is 90% of renewals in future will be funded from cashflow and not from borrowing.
That will mean the ratepayers will pay as they go, rather than borrowing and saying the next generation can help.
Debt has still gone up on your watch. Should there have been more cuts to projects like the town hall or Toitu upgrades?
The options around the town hall were really quite restricted.
It was already in bits, we'd already started ... With Toitu, it was a bit similar, really. We did confirm the fourth stage, but the tower came off.
To what extent do you feel hamstrung by the previous council's decisions?
I didn't exactly go in with my eyes closed, but on the other hand we did discover new things.
For instance, the stadium was posited on the ability of the council-owned companies to provide dividends to service the debt and, less than six months after coming into office, the revelation came out there's no way they're going to be able to do that to the extent they thought they could ... Those sort of surprises I really resent.
What previous community involvement have you had?
Not a tremendous amount.
One of the reasons I was able to come on to the council in 2007 was that I was winding up, or coming to the end of, a broadcasting career that kept me out of town a lot ... I couldn't have community involvement up until that point because I couldn't be reliable.
How do you fund your campaign?
I pay for it. I have the odd donation. I haven't had any massive ones.
How much do you expect to spend?
It might be up to $20,000, but it might not.
Who do you vote for nationally?
I have voted for different parties.
That's probably as much as I will say.
I won't disclose who I voted for last time, because people are quite capable of drawing the wrong conclusions from your alignment.
Who do you think your supporters are here?
I like to think that I've got supporters across the spectrum, because I really value an inclusive community that involves everyone, whether it's business people or whether it's students or recent immigrants, or whatever.
We're only going to be a successful community if it's inclusive.
Dave Cull
Age: 63.
Family/marital status: Married, two children.
Occupation: Mayor.
Council experience: Councillor (2007-10), mayor (2010-13).
Running for: Mayor and council.