Vibrant economy would work for all in Dunedin

What do you know about the 11 candidates who are contesting the 2016 Dunedin mayoral election? Chris Morris puts the questions to Rachel Elder.

Rachel Elder wants Dunedin’s economic development to create jobs for people from all walks of life. Photo: Christine O'Connor.

Rachel Elder says she is sick of watching people leave Dunedin to search for work.

The 60-year-old former employment consultant for Workbridge is determined to stop the drain of talent, if elected, by encouraging "inclusive" economic development in the city.

"Not everyone’s a rocket scientist or an IT person."

And, after missing out on a council seat last time, Mrs Elder also wants to improve the council’s consultation efforts, encourage teamwork and send a message to South Dunedin that the suburb’s problems can be solved.

Why are you standing?

I’m standing because I’ve been an employment consultant for the last seven years, and I’m really, really tired of sending people out of town for work, or sending people to jobs that they’re over-qualified for, or seeing families where their dads live out of town through the week and then come home for the weekend.

I have a vision of a vibrant, colourful, inclusive economy in Dunedin, and us all working together to make that happen, so that we’ve got a broad range of jobs across a wide spectrum.

Dunedin is on the edge of greatness.

We’ve got amazing opportunities right now in New Zealand that we could grab a hold of.

Why should people vote for you?

For one, I am grounded in the community.

I’ve worked across health, education, community, church, employment, business sectors, so I’ve got a grounding in all those sectors.

When it comes to decision-making, I bring with me a whole host of people ... the Pacific Island community, for example, have asked me to represent them in council, so I bring them with me.

I bring the Maori people with me — I’ve got a strong concern for them — and I bring the business community with me.

I’ve got all these communities I’m in contact with, so when it comes to decision-making I can bring that perspective to the table.

And I’ve got mega-initiative. I go out and I go to uncomfortable places.

What relevant experience do you have?

I’ve chaired boards of trustees before, and committees, so I’ve got that kind of background.

I’m also a member of the Chamber of Commerce, so I’ve related to the business community, who have concerns.

I would say my experience is broad in the sense of having a network relationship with a lot of communities.

What do you see as the major issues for this election?

I would say that for me it’s the lack of growth.

I think South Dunedin and how we deal with the infrastructure issues relating to that, but I believe that human resources and resourcefulness can deal with that issue.

I think it’s really important we have good community consultation ... and for a lot of people, they’ve been a bit tired of the argy-bargy in council, so they’re wanting a bit more of a teamwork approach as a council.

Also planning and consents ... we’ve got a bottleneck there that we need to deal with.

How would you deal with South Dunedin’s flooding and climate change issues?

A lot of the flood was created by lack of maintenance, and a lot of that is being addressed ... I’d want to make sure the mud-tanks on all the hills were cleaned out, because in fact a lot drains off the hills ... but I’d also want an emergency response plan put in place, and even if they practised it, because there were things on the day that didn’t happen that should have.

Long-term, there’s the Beca report that recommends pumps and sumps ... what I’d like to do is reassure South Dunedin that definitely it can be managed.

So you’re not in favour of managed retreat?

No, I don’t believe we need to do managed retreat ... it’s something that can be managed.

What is Dunedin not doing well?

We’re not growing enough.

We’re not making the most of the opportunities out there ... We’ve got 140,000 extra people in New Zealand in the last three years.

That’s the size of the city of Dunedin.

There’s a lot of people coming here, coming back from Australia, cashed-up, with good ideas in their brains, some money in their hands, and we should be actually grabbing those people and getting them into Dunedin.

I think we haven’t consulted well.

Look at the cycleway project in South Dunedin ... that gets the community off-side, so we need to learn to consult a bit better.

What is Dunedin doing well?

We could do innovation really well.

We’ve got ultra-fast broadband, so we’re doing IT really well ... we need to step all these things up.

We’ve got the foundations of the ability to grow.

In some ways, Dunedin’s on the edge of greatness.

But it’s up to us whether we’re a happening city, or a city that could have been.

We’ve got the infrastructure.

We’ve got the affordable, attractive, accessible city.

What we have to do is market that and bring people here.

What’s your vision for Dunedin?

I would love it to be a vibrant, colourful, inclusive economy, so that means that there’s room for everyone ... there’s room for the artist, there’s room for the tourist, there’s room for everyone.

You’ve got to have a vibrant, colourful inclusive economy so that people have entry-level jobs.

Not everybody’s a rocket scientist or IT person ... We’re losing top people because their spouses can’t get a job here.

Who did you vote for in the last national election, and how would you describe your politics?

I voted the Maori Party last time, because I saw the Maori Party gaining a lot of strength from its relationship with the National Government, and the Maori people gaining a lot of resources through that relationship.

I vote depending on what’s strong at the time.

I’ve voted National, I’ve voted Labour, I’ve voted the Maori Party ... I just vote strategically.

How are you campaigning and how are you funding it?

Russell [husband] and I are funding it ourselves.

I’ve got my business card, which I use ... we’re door-knocking, then I’ve got my posters around.

I will spend about $5000.

Have you attended council meetings?

Yes, and I’ve looked at them online, and I’ve submitted at council as well.

You stood in the 2013 election and missed out, so why do you think this time will be different?

Last time I was too busy helping people into work.

I was working fulltime and campaigning.

If I stopped work I think I probably would have got in ... This time I’ve stopped work and I’m giving it everything I’ve got.