Aaron Hawkins contested a statement by-election rival Jo Galer and city councillor Russell Lund made about him in a campaign advertisement about South Dunedin at the weekend.
The advertisement noted about $35 million was included in the council’s long-term plan in 2018 for stormwater upgrades and claimed this was followed by disappointment in 2021 as ‘‘South Dunedin works disappeared ... when by-election candidate Aaron Hawkins was mayor’’.
‘‘I mean, it’s pretty desperate and dirty politics, I think.
‘‘Frankly our community deserves better leadership than that.’’
Ms Galer told the Otago Daily Times a 2017 report by Opus highlighted a desperate situation — work in South Dunedin had taken far too long to get going and any progress on the ground was too slow.
‘‘People have been fed a story that the council is preparing well for future floods, but in effect, [it] was doing nothing.
‘‘Despite all the rhetoric from Mr Hawkins, his failure to face up to the council’s responsibilities means South Dunedin remains exposed to serious flooding.
‘‘It’s an appalling and dangerous indictment on the Hawkins regime.’’
Mr Hawkins said the council increased significantly the amount budgeted for water infrastructure and accelerated some work.
Ms Galer said the council failed to deliver on promises made in 2018.
Council chief executive Sandy Graham said any suggestion money allocated to South Dunedin had disappeared from budgets was not correct.
She also pointed to $15m in the 2025-34 long-term plan for flood alleviation work in South Dunedin and a further $29.2m for short-term improvements, also in South Dunedin.
