Tauranga's mayoral candidates at the debate. Sitting from left to right: Mahe Drysdale, Tina Salisbury, Greg Brownless, and Ria Hall. Photo: RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod
Voting papers will start going out this weekend to residents of Tauranga for the city's first local body elections in nearly five years, with four of the mayoral candidates facing off in a debate last night.
Mayoral hopefuls Greg Brownless, Mahe Drysdale, Tina Salisbury and Ria Hall were invited to the debate organised by the Tauranga Business Chamber.
Tauranga Business Chamber polled members asking who they most wanted to hear from, and about 100 people turned up.
Attendees told RNZ they came along to hear the candidates' vision for Tauranga.
The audience at the debate. Photo: RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod
"I'm hoping to hear a well-reasoned debate, you know there are some challenging issues to be confronted," said one local businessman before the event started.
The last council in Tauranga was sacked in February 2021 and replaced with commissioners.
The spectre of that failure hung over many of the questions from chamber chief executive Matt Cowley.
But former Tauranga mayor Greg Brownless did not think this was fair and said he was proud of what past councils have achieved.
"I'm actually not frightened about Tauranga reverting back to the disfunction of old. It's sort of annoyed to me that for some reason Tauranga people for the x-number of years have been told that we're not capable of choosing our representatives, I think that was wrong," Brownless told the audience.
Salisbury was also once on council and was the deputy mayor when the council was sacked.
She played to the strength of her local government knowledge and how the next council can be better than the last.
She said in the past, elected members have been given a phone and a laptop and told to get on with it.
"I think there needs to be budget for elected members to get the training that they need to do the best job. Investment in our governance team is an investment in our city," said Salisbury.
Drysdale used the debate to announce his interest in hosting a future Sail GP event in the city, though the announcement got lost in the rest of his closing statements.
In a media release after the event, Drysdale said if elected mayor he would speak with Sail-GP boss Sir Russell Coutts to explore the possibility of hosting the event in Tauranga harbour.
"The natural amphitheatre of Pilot Bay, Sulphur Point and Fergusson Park would be great places for stands. And the stunning back drop of the Mount would provide a superb image of New Zealand around the world," he said.
Singer Ria Hall focused on her connection to the city noting three generations of her family have all gone to the same local school.
Hoardings for the first local body elections in Tauranga in years. Photo: RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod
Chairperson Matt Cowley pressed her on how she would use her experience and skills in local government.
Hall responded that for her it would be about building good relationships.
"Getting to know the team [the elected members], I think it's really fundamental to get to know them and their whānau. From that standpoint you're then able to navigate your way safely around the council table," said Hall.
The audience response after the event was mixed.
"Actually, what it highlighted to me was the naivety amongst some of them," said one attendee who said the debate had not helped her at all in deciding who to vote for.
Another said that any of the four would make a great mayor and representative of Tauranga, while another thought it was fifty-fifty.
"I felt one of the candidates didn't quite have the detail, another of the candidates it's about that individual and not about anyone else... but definitely there are two people here who would be equally good, and if they worked together, what a team that would be," he said.
Postal voting for the council election closes on 20 July.
After that, it's likely one of these four hopefuls will be shouldering the job of returning democratic decision making to the city.