They are generally considered to be the four main contenders for the Dunedin mayoralty — Andrew Simms, Sophie Barker, Lee Vandervis and Jules Radich. Business South invited the four candidates to a debate after a survey of members. Grant Miller has gone through the transcript and pieced together their comments.
A debate between four candidates, rather than a large lineup of speakers, can give an audience a good feel for who might have the goods as mayor.
Allied Productions filmed the forum at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, and I have selected some of the candidates’ responses for voters to mull.
I have not sought to represent everything the candidates said on each subject and answers have been edited. Much of the content is in their own words, but some has been paraphrased. I also added content to the credentials segment.
Vision, or the biggest change that is needed
Mr Radich: Economic development is critically important. "I have a practical plan to retain more of the brains we train, and I think the demographic deficit between the age of 30 and 50 is quite massive." People in this age range have left. The Centre of Digital Excellence provides a model for how other areas of the technology sector can be grown.
Mr Simms: He would convene a symposium of "the best and brightest people in Dunedin" — from the business, social and education sectors and the council. The purpose "is to determine where are we now, where do we want to go and how are we going to get there". A plan needs to be agreed upon and then delivered. "I’m incredibly encouraged by the potential that’s in front of this city ... it’s exciting and it’s frustrating as hell." A lot of the answers are "remarkably straightforward".
Cr Vandervis: Dunedin needs to "be free of" the Otago Regional Council. "We need to reclaim our port and our harbourside." A unitary council should be established in Dunedin. "Once we get this new model where we have a single council, we will then be able to lead the development of Dunedin in a way that hasn’t been possible in the past."
Cr Barker: We need to "re-envision" the city. "I’ve been working on a bit of a vision, which is around the best place to live in New Zealand, where people live fulfilled lives in a connected city that’s safe and accessible for all, where our standard of living is enhanced by our treasured environment, a prosperous city with meaningful jobs and strong communities resilient to climate change, a smart city respecting heritage while innovating for our future." Bold ambition is required, and a plan has to have smart, measurable goals.
Governance, leadership and accountable decision-making
Cr Vandervis: "As mayor, I intend to make sure that only relevant decisions get put in front of the council and that much of the submissions industry, much of the international politics and much of the virtue signalling that goes on at council simply doesn’t get on to the agenda in the first place." He would push for slimmed-down meeting agendas. Better agendas should lead to better results.
Mr Simms: There should be fewer non-public meetings and greater transparency. The council’s process regarding considering selling Aurora Energy was frustrating to deal with, particularly when information was received and discussed behind closed doors. The Smooth Hill landfill issue is an example of material being kept confidential needlessly — the content released later shows this. "It was not critical information. It was not a matter of national security. It was redacted to stop people from outside participating in that decision, and that is a disgrace."
Cr Barker: "We’ve got challenges with governance, leadership, trust and reputation." Strategies and plans have to be measured and monitored to help build trust. "Councillor teamwork is an issue as well, so we would have a two-day councillor-only workshop immediately after the election to work on a consensus for agreed priorities."
Mr Radich: Preserving confidentiality is sometimes essential, such as when there is commercial sensitivity. Regarding Aurora, the council listened to what the public had to say and ended up deciding not to sell the company.
Poised to present their thoughts at a Dunedin mayoral forum hosted by Business South are (from left) Lee Vandervis, Andrew Simms, Jules Radich and Sophie Barker. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH
Building costs
Mr Simms: "We’ve got real concerns over the cost of building a house in Dunedin compared to the cost of building the same house in Christchurch. And those numbers are bandied about probably somewhere between $60,000 and $100,000." Regarding soil contamination from lead paint, developers are saying one thing and the DCC is saying another — "they can’t both be right". "We have a reputation in Dunedin for being the hardest municipality to deal with in the country, and that’s not just on housing ... that has to change."
Cr Barker: The city needs to look to put out the red carpet, rather than red tape. It could be more helpful and have a service ethos towards people who want to invest money in Dunedin. The state of student housing is a reputational issue for the city.
Mr Radich: Christchurch is blessed with a lot of flat land. "So you have large-scale greenfields development on flat land, where you’re putting in all your infrastructure, [making] it much, much cheaper to develop, and we’ve only got a limited amount of flat land available." Dunedin has more difficult terrain than other places.
Cr Vandervis: In Dunedin, too much is dictated by zoning, restricting land supply and forcing up building costs. "We have an incredible range of land that could be built on here, except that we have a total focus on zoning." A change in attitude at the council could enable more affordable housing. "And it would give people much more opportunity to be able to build anywhere they like."
Growth
Cr Vandervis: Why do we have to grow? I mean, a lot of people like Dunedin the size that it is. Dunedin is a perfect size for having all the kind of cultural and sporting facilities that you want. And if you want to have growth, you’re going to have growing pains that go with it." The city has a fabulous environment and infrastructure and it should not "hose all that value away with an insupportably expensive bureaucracy with two councils rather than one".
Mr Radich: "What we need is growth in the engine room in the economy. We’ve got a demographic deficit, that is absolutely for sure."
Mr Simms: "We need to save our way out of trouble, but we absolutely need to grow our way out of trouble."
Cr Barker: "I totally believe we should go for growth, and I see the university has some pretty big targets on growth as well." Growth needs to happen "sensibly".
Attractions to the city
Cr Vandervis: Dunedin needs more attractions. For example, the longest sea cave in the world is near Waikouaiti, but it seems over-zealous health and safety got in the way of business. "When we get more attractions, it will smooth out the too-lumpy tourism issue that we have at the moment."
Mr Simms: Dunedin needs to connect to the popular Otago cycle trails. "The opportunity handed to us on a plate is the cycleway that currently finishes in Waihola."
Cr Barker: The city also needs events and better marketing. "We should be investing in events that are more homegrown and more distinctly Dunedin, because [it’s] a real challenge competing in that crowded marketplace. Lee talked about making more attractions, but we actually need to fill the ones that we have, and we do have an offseason issue ... that’s where the events can come in."
Mr Radich: "We’ve put quite a bit of funding into the stadium and events and having consistent year-round usage of that stadium as an undercover venue for a whole range of community events."
Also standing for mayor are:
Carmen Houlahan, David Milne, Pamela Taylor, Doug Hall, Marie Laufiso, Lianna MacFarlane, Zenith (a.k.a Ruthven Allimrac) Rose-Wills, Mandy Mayhem, Benedict Ong, Mickey Treadwell, Flynn (Nisvett) Nisbett and Lync Aronson.
