Rates rises, cost of living and debt management are front of mind for Dunedin’s by-election candidates.
Fourteen candidates are contesting one seat on the Dunedin City Council, left vacant after the death of councillor and former mayor Jules Radich in January.
Voting papers will begin to arrive by post from Friday.
The Otago Daily Times asked candidates what they saw as the biggest issue facing Dunedin.
The majority outlined the impact of rising rates and need for financial discipline.
Andrew Whiley said Dunedin needed a strong council capable of tackling such issues while addressing the next decade of infrastructure investment requirements.
‘‘We need to make sensible decisions now, not because they are easy but because they are the best decisions for the generations to come.’’
There was a growing gap between council activity and what households and businesses could afford, Conrad Stedman said.
‘‘Council needs to refocus on the basics, prioritise properly, and be prepared to say no to things that don’t stack up.’’
Aaron Hawkins said too many families in Dunedin were experiencing homelessness or struggling to pay rent.
‘‘We need to build more houses and provide better support for people to live in them, and there are roles for both central and local government to play in that.’’
Carmen Houlahan said the council needed to ease costs where possible and ‘‘part of that is getting things in order and paying down debt’’.
In a general election year, the council should be advocating Dunedin’s wants and needs to political parties, including a regional hospital built as promised, she said.
Jo Galer said the financial viability of the council and city was the biggest issue during ‘‘extremely difficult economic conditions and high fuel costs’’, which had flow-on impacts to goods and services.
Financial responsibility and prudence needed to move up a gear, she said.
Bill Acklin said the biggest issue was the scale of projected rates rises and debt increases.
Some projects in the council’s long-term plan needed to be cancelled or delayed and operational expenditure reined in, he said.
Richard Knights said the city needed to determine how to continue infrastructure and service investment, while keeping rates rises as low as possible.
The government was asking councils to deliver more with less or under ‘‘the threat of a rates cap’’, he said.
Like any household, the council needed to cut its cloth differently, Lync Aronson said.
‘‘The biggest issue we face is the balancing act of delivering affordable rates without cutting core services and while still protecting our social fabric such as our parks, community halls and libraries, the things that make Dunedin a great place to live.’’
The council needed to manage cash flow losses and government mandates, Lianna MacFarlane said.
‘‘It is clear the council needs to take strong action now to make cutbacks, otherwise we face a continuing uncertain financial future — trimming around the financial edges won't cut it.’’
Pamela Taylor said Dunedin was increasingly vulnerable to global supply pressures.
‘‘When fuel becomes more expensive or harder to access, it affects every part of our local economy.’’
For Garreth Ottley the biggest issue the city faced was ‘‘rising costs and debt management’’.
The ODT also asked candidates how well they felt they would be able to work with Mayor Sophie Barker and sitting councillors if elected.
All respondents were sure of an effective working relationship with elected members — ‘‘we might have different views at times but that is democracy in action’’, Mrs Houlahan said.
Several former councillors were running in the by-election and they noted they had worked with many of the sitting councillors before.
Mr Acklin said ‘‘while some sitting councillors can be quite difficult and off topic at times, the requirement of all elected members is to work together with each other’’.
Gordon Dickson, Angus MacKay and Angela McErlane did not respond to questions by deadline.
Voting closes at noon on May 12.
