Nobby Clark said the council was lacking energy with many projects and key issues being extensively debated and discussed, but not being delivered in the appropriate time or manner.
It also faced challenging years with governance issues and tensions between elected members.
But Mr Clark guaranteed those days had gone.
He confessed he was a bit apprehensive about how it would work at the beginning, but a meeting with the new and old councillors yesterday gave him confidence that there was a new mood within the council.
"People will notice the change straight away. There is so much energy in the room now that it did not have for a long, long time."
The first couple of days had been stressful as there were so many things to be done, he said. However, he believed everybody there was on the same page — mayor, councillors and chief executive Clare Hadley.
‘We had a good conversation yesterday [Monday] and she knows the way forward.
"We will have a zero tolerance for any delays and excessive increase in costs [for projects]."
To highlight this new "getting it done" era, he wanted to defer about $40million and $50million of capital expenditure to focus on issues which he believed were priorities for residents.
He would like to pause the planned renewal of the civic administration building budgeted at $26million and stage two of the council’s multimillion-dollar inner city streetscapes.
"We are doing the Don and Esk Sts and the retailers there are struggling. It will be the second Christmas they will operate without the appropriate settings," he said.
The construction of the museum’s storage facility in Tisbury would also be deferred to allow the museum to be constructed first, he said.
The museum has been closed since April 2018 due to earthquake issues and many reports and plans have been consulted on with the community.
Mr Clark guaranteed construction of the museum within his first term as mayor was feasible.
"Why shouldn’t we? We constructed a whole mall in three years. The Langlands — when they started to construct — it took two years ... What we are proposing for the museum is half of the size of Langlands. So we can do it."
He said the council would need a year of planning and to change the reserve status, as his plan was to bring the facility a bit forward into the Gala St reserve. Then the museum would be built in two years, he said.
He said another goal was to keep the rates at the same level as stated in the long-term plan which was 4% for 2023-24 and 3% for 2024-25.
"If we can’t do that we will cut [items] out of the budget. We need to keep our word to ratepayers."
Mr Clark was also planning a revamp on the governance structure including a couple of committees and some new portfolios. Health was a good example.
"Since the health system was united, we lost our voice in the South. I am planning to set up a lobby within the three Southland councils to make sure we have a strong regional voice and not be dictated to by Health NZ."
He said it was important to champion some causes for Southland, which was not happening at present.
He also plans to strip away all the formality and ceremony at the council, including doing away with the mayoral robe and the title "his worship".
"I want to be more informal, but like a corporate meeting. Things will change in the council chamber."
But Mr Clark said in the next weeks he would be planning a range of celebrations to thank former mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt for his work.
