Longtime community board member Debbie Mora is vying for the Riccarton Ward as an independent in the local body elections, her first bid for a seat on the city council.
She lives in Hoon Hay which is in the Halswell Ward and represents the ward on the Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board Community Board.
Riccarton Ward independent candidate Tony Simons has blasted Mora over the bid.
“Halswell voters should feel disappointed and let down that Debbie Mora is willing to desert her area, where she lives and serves Halswell on the community board, in favour of Riccarton, where she doesn’t live and which she doesn’t represent,” he said.
“The primary reason to run for council is to represent the residents of an area.”
Simons is chair of the Riccarton Bush-Kilmarnock Residents Association and has been a key figure in the fight against suburban housing intensification.
Responded Mora: "I like Tony but I think this is just an attempt to discredit me and the many years of work I’ve done in Riccarton and Halswell. People in Halswell Ward have no need to fear me being elected.
"In fact, Halswell would benefit from several more strong, independent councillors across the city.”
There are five candidates for Riccarton Ward – Simons, Mora, Mark Chirnside, Sam Yau and sitting councillor Tyla Harrison-Hunt.
Simons said the fact Chirnside owned a cafe in Riccarton was a connection to the ward.
Mora said she is connected to Riccarton through her community board work and experience.
"I don’t just make decisions for Halswell I have been making decisions for all Halswell, Hornby and Riccarton for the last 12 years,” she said.
"I bring the right skills to the job, so the voters will judge.”
Harrison-Hunt said he doesn’t have anything against Mora and Chirnside standing in the ward as long as they “put Riccarton first.”
He says Mora’s decision is “strategic” as he believes she could not beat independent Halswell Ward city councillor Andrei Moore.
Mora said she wants to bring “independent representation” to the council table, preferring to stand against Harrison-Hunt who is part of The People’s Choice political group rather than Moore who is independent.
The Star could not confirm whether Yau lives in the Riccarton Ward. He did not respond to questions.
Across the rest of Christchurch there are three other candidates who do not live in the ward they are hoping to get elected in, incumbent city councillor Jake McLellan, and Tom Roud in Central Ward, and Fionna Chapman in Burwood Ward.
It is not a requirement for candidates to live in the ward they are contesting.
McLellan lives in Addington 100m from the ward after the boundaries were changed after the representational review in 2021. He was first elected in 2019.
"My commitment to the Ward has been evident through nearly a decade of public service,” he said.
Library worker Tom Roud lives in St Martins (Cashmere Ward).
"Christchurch Central is where I, and 50,000 other residents, work,” he said.
Other Central Ward candidates, Raf Manji and Hayley Guglietta, took no major issue with McLellan and Roud living outside the ward.
Chapman, Burwood Ward city councillor Kelly Barber’s sole challenger, lives in Woolston.
She says she is “deeply involved” with all the eastern suburbs through her community development work at the Christchurch Methodist Mission.
She also lived in Wainoni which is in Burwood Ward until four years ago.
