"Extraordinary" levels of election campaign spending mean changes are required to ensure a level playing field, a Dunedin city councillor says.
He said he was referring to all tickets, "but in this particular case, the real spend has been from Future Dunedin".
Incoming and highest polling councillor Andrew Simms — who led the prominent Future Dunedin ticket, which began campaigning in March — said he welcomed discussions about change.
Cr Vandervis said he was not suggesting Mr Simms had done anything illegal and was pleased to have him at the council table.
"What I am suggesting is that with the amount of money now being brought to the voting system, that those rules need to be updated," Cr Vandervis said.
In Dunedin, a total spending limit of $55,000 applies to mayoral and council candidates in three months before an election and a signed declaration of costs during this period must be returned to the electoral officer by December 10.
Any earlier spending is only required to be recorded if it covers goods or services used during the declaration period.
"This time, because of the extraordinary amount of spend and the length of the spend, it has become an issue," Cr Vandervis said.
He estimated his own election expenses came to a maximum of $20,000 and Future Dunedin’s was closer to "a couple of hundred grand, but that’s pure speculation".
"It's still vastly in excess of anything that somebody like me could possibly front."
"It sort of begins to mean that unless you're a multimillionaire, you're simply not going to be in the same league in terms of advertising."
Cr Vandervis did thank Mr Simms for using his platform to promote issues such as the Smooth Hill landfill, which both councillors opposed.
Mr Simms said he was open to discussions about spending changes and a wider conversation about the impact of Dunedin’s voting system on campaign spending was needed.
Future Dunedin had "played firmly within the rules" but, in hindsight, he thought they had not gained much from an early campaign.
None of Future Dunedin’s six other candidates followed Mr Simms on to the council, which was difficult to reconcile, he said.
Mr Simms said the ticket’s final costs were still being tallied but an estimation of $100,000 spent between the seven candidates "wouldn’t be far off".
Ticket candidates had campaigns "proportionate to what they were prepared to put on themselves" as well as a "collective" Future Dunedin presence.
"I think that our campaign was a catalyst for change that's not necessarily reflected in the results that we got," he said.
"But I certainly take nothing away from the candidates that did get in."
Cr Vandervis had made some "fair" points regarding changes to the declaration period — "but where do you draw the line?".
While Mr Simms supported Dunedin’s single transferable vote system, he said it rewarded name recognition — favouring incumbent councillors and candidates with existing high profiles.
"In order to overcome that, anybody who wants to get elected to council has almost got to have the ability to mount a campaign that's going to give them that name recognition."
Mr Simms, a car dealer, said he experienced a "very significant surge" in business during the campaign period.
"Interestingly, the motor industry operates in much the same way that the political [one] does ... top of mind recognition and name recognition is a vital function."
The new council is due to be sworn in today.
