Over the last few weeks, Tauranga residents have been able to vote in their first local election since the city council was replaced with commissioners at the end of 2020.
Preliminary results are in, and in a landslide result, former Olympic rower Mahé Drysdale is expected to become the city’s new Mayor.
For this bonus episode of On the Tiles: Local Edition, he catches up with Georgina ahead of the final results to discuss what’s next for the city.
Kyoda and welcome to On the Tiles, the Herald's politics podcast. I'm Georgina Campbell and this is a local edition episode. Over the last few weeks, Todonga residents have been able to vote in their first local election since the city council was replaced with commissioners at the end of twenty twenty. Preliminary results are in and in a landslide result, former Olympic rower Mahe Drysdale is expected to become the city's new mayor. For this bonus episode of On the Tiles Local Edition, I caught up with him ahead of the final results to discuss what's next for the city. Firstly, congratulations on your election result, Mahe. What did you do to celebrate on election night?
Yeah, it was a little bit crazy, to be fair. You get a phone call and so only the job begins, so a lot of media and then just caught up with some family and friends and some of the people that you helped me get elected. So bit of a bit of a celebration and then it was very much into it next morning, straight straight onto the office and figuring out what all this means.
So has it sunk in now? Would you say that You're going to be the next mayor of Titongen.
Yeah, I think it's sunk in. Yeah, the realization of you know what have I got myself in for. It's a big job ahead, but I'm really excited about the opportunity, and you know, met most of my fellow counselors and pretty exciting. I think of everyone wanting the best for the city of Totnga, and I'm very hopeful that we're going to be able to deliver on that promise.
Yes, and obviously the city has been without an elected council for some time now. I know that people in this that we want to avoid a repeat of what led to commissioners taking over the council. How are you going to make sure that your counsel is different?
I think the first thing is the team approach. So that's what I've been very focused on this week, building that team, trying to figure out what between us all sort of common themes and common visions and so you know, that's that's what we're still working on. But you know, as we sort of come together, it's it's forming a shared vision of where we want to get to and then kind of making that plan of how we're going to get there. And you know, there's obviously everyone's got different priorities as to what they want to achieve, but some of them are in similar veins. So it's you know, just just really formulating that together. And I think you know, as I said, from the discussions we've had so far, you know, everyone just wants the best for the city and they want to see it succeed. So you know, that's it's a really good starting place that you know, everyone's prepared to leave their egos and agendas at the door and you know, just deliver what's best for the city.
And obviously it's early days, but can you give some examples of where you can see some alignment around that council table on particular issues or ways to address them.
I think you know, generally people see what what the issues are and these are these have come from the campaign, and you know everyone understands that that. You know, we've got massive infrastructure deficit that we've we've got to deliver. There's traffic and transport issues. You know, we need to find a way to solve housing because you know we're short on houses and houses that are the most unaffordable in this city. So I think those general themes have come through from from everyone and it's just kind of more the conversations we've got to got to have as we see this as an issue, but how we're going to because we just don't have enough money to do everything? So how are we going to prioritize that? Is there ways we can do this with you know, some some changes that we can deliver more for that same budget. So I think I think there's some good opportunities there just to get that value for money of that spend there.
And you have a personal mandate as the mayor with what is shaping up to be a landslide victory, what are your sort of top three policies that you want to implement during your term.
I think for me, the biggest thing as on one of ten boats around the table. So that's really clear that, you know, I don't really bring any mandate to be able to say we're gonna we're going to do this, we're going to do that, We're going to you know, any or anything else, but you know, some of those things I've spoken about, I really just want to get out there and start delivering and making sure that we get stuff done. Uh. You know, I want to make it easier for people to deal with the counsel and to get stuff done. But we're only going to do that by being a team with ourselves, you know, being a team with the other council staff, being a team with the community. So we're delivering what they want and getting alongside central government and uh and you know again saying look we are the can do counsel and we're going to help you solve a lot of your issues while we solve ours. Let's work together and you know, really deliver. So you know, that's very much. I guess how I see this, and you know I guess from me personally. You know what I'd love to say is in four years time, people go man tearing. It is an example of a council that's that's doing a great job. You know, that's really you know, where where i'd like to get to. And I'm you know, quietly confident that we can get there with the team we've got and you know, people's attitudes which is fantastic.
And as you've said, money is tight. So in terms of you know, spending money wisely being careful with it, are there any strategies at this point as to what that might actually look like.
Yeah, I think for me it's really key is that value for money. So you know how I look at things is, you know, there's a lot of things we want, but you know, does it make sense at that price? You know that that it's delivering value for the residents and and rate payers of the city, So you know, that's very much. I guess how I look at it on the lens and you know, bike paths all over the city at ten million may may make sense, but at billion dollars they don't, you know. So so that's the sort of you know, the lens that I bring to the table, and you know, it's just trying to make those decisions, make good decisions. And then if something that you think this is actually really important, but where you know, at the moment it's too expensive, how can we you know, what sort of misers do we need to make to deliver that? With you maybe ninety percent of what we want, you know, taking out the nice to haves, but still gives that functionality that we need. So I guess that's how I see it at the moment. But again, you know, it's it's about sitting around that table and together delivering with the team.
I'm not sure if you've had a chance to look at the council books so to speak, but obviously the big story for local councils this year has been their dismal finances. Things are really tight, rates increases are high. Are you nervous about seeing the full extent of totong a city Council's box And if you have already seen it, what did you make of it?
Well, we've seen the long term plan, we've seen the Prayer election report, so now I haven't seen the final numbers. Look, it's a problem we're facing right across the country. Both central government local government costs have risen dramatically. You know, things are just costing a lot to build and you know, unfortunately, I think the local body system of relying on the rate payers is not a is not a sustainable one. So you know that's where we've got to get a little bit innovative. You know, rates are going to rise, that's just a fact, and you know that's happening right across the country. But you know, our job is to try, I guess, you know, get that value for money so that they're not out of control, but we're very aware of what people are facing and it's tough out there across the board. So as a council we've got to sort of, i guess, lead by example and tighten our belts and you know, show that we can start delivering some better value for money.
And one of the things that cropped up on the campaign trail was that you do not live in total on a city. Will you be moving there now that you're going to be the mayor and if so, when can we expect that to happen?
Yes, So basically, our kids are at school till the end of the year and once they finished then we'll look to move over here. And you know, there's another whole more more from my mott wife's perspective, but you know, just just finding new schools and houses and and sort of making ourselves at home is the next challenge on the horizon. And as we know, if the most expensive houses are in New Zealand's that's not it's not an easy challenge.
Can the counsel do anything about the fact that, you know, housing in total is so expensive. Do you have any views on how the council can help with that issue?
Well, I'm I'm I guess, you know, from a financial background, so I look at it from an economic lens that it's a supply and demand thing. So you know, what can we do as council, Well, we can help from the supply side of things and make it easier for people to deliver houses, because if we deliver more houses generally, then you increase the supply and prices come down. But you know there's also I think the government you have a big role to play, and they're doing their part with you know, trying to make the RMA a little bit easier to navigate, you know, bringing in building materials from other countries so we sort of get rid of that monopoly on materials in this country, and you know, little things like that, just just cutting some of the red tape and delivering infrastructure projects. I've heard you know, traffic management can be up to forty percent of that cost for delivering that, so you know it's sort of you know around those edges, can is there places we can save a bit of money and and make things a bit easier for people, So so we can deliver and you know, we're going to have to probably have some density here as well, because you know, we asked done to run out of land.
And just on the makeup of your counsel, only one woman has been voted onto total in a city council. Are you disappointed with that? And why do you think that's happened?
Yeah, it's it is a bit disappointing, to be honest, because you know, there was some some fantastic female candidates out there, and you know, I guess that's just a little bit of the intricacies of voting. And you know, thankfully Jen who is is the counselor, that's a female. She's a very capable and you know, is a is a fantastic candidate. So she'll certainly be representing the female side very very adequately throughout her term.
And finally, you've got four years as mayor before the next local body election. It's something some councils and even central government could only dream of, that four year term. How do you think having that extra year will help and what do you hope total it will look like in twenty twenty eight.
Yeah, so I think it's fantastic, you know, and I think a lot of the issues that local bodies face is that under investment, because you know, we want to keep the ratepayer happy for three years so that you know, you get voted in again, and sometimes that means you don't make the big calls that need to be done. So I think we've got to take a longer term view and you know, obviously educate people a little bit better as to what we're doing and why, so that they understand some of those big decisions. And you know, what do I want to see to longa look like in four years? Well, for me, success is one. We've done a great job around the council table. We worked at this team and started to deliver for the residents. But you know, secondly, I think when we look at the city, we say, you know, this city is isn't a better place And it's a better city than you know when we started today. And I'm very excited about what's going on here because there's a lot a lot happening. The CBDs being revitalized and that's going to be the real heart of our city. And hopefully, you know, this city is going to be fantastic in the future. But you know, we'll have a little bit of a hand in the next four years, but you know, it's it's going to take going to take probably another ten to fifteen at least until we can can see you know, the city in being the best city in New Zealand.
Thanks so much for joining us, and congratulations again on your result.
Thank you very much.
That's it for this episode of On the Tiles Local edition. You can read more politicsnews at ziherld dot co dot NZID. On the Tiles is produced by Ethan Sells Patty Fox as the sound engineer. I'm Georgina Campbell. Subscribe to On the Tiles on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can tune in on Fridays for the latest episode.