Speaker 1: Kyoda and welcome to On the Tiles, the Herald's politics podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Georgina Campbell and this is a local edition episode.
Speaker 1: Over the last few weeks, Todonga residents have been able
Speaker 1: to vote in their first local election since the city
Speaker 1: council was replaced with commissioners at the end of twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: Preliminary results are in and in a landslide result, former
Speaker 1: Olympic rower Mahe Drysdale is expected to become the city's
Speaker 1: new mayor. For this bonus episode of On the Tiles
Speaker 1: Local Edition, I caught up with him ahead of the
Speaker 1: final results to discuss what's next for the city. Firstly,
Speaker 1: congratulations on your election result, Mahe. What did you do
Speaker 1: to celebrate on election night?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a little bit crazy, to be fair.
Speaker 2: You get a phone call and so only the job begins,
Speaker 2: so a lot of media and then just caught up
Speaker 2: with some family and friends and some of the people
Speaker 2: that you helped me get elected. So bit of a
Speaker 2: bit of a celebration and then it was very much
Speaker 2: into it next morning, straight straight onto the office and
Speaker 2: figuring out what all this means.
Speaker 1: So has it sunk in now? Would you say that
Speaker 1: You're going to be the next mayor of Titongen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's sunk in. Yeah, the realization of
Speaker 2: you know what have I got myself in for. It's
Speaker 2: a big job ahead, but I'm really excited about the opportunity,
Speaker 2: and you know, met most of my fellow counselors and
Speaker 2: pretty exciting. I think of everyone wanting the best for
Speaker 2: the city of Totnga, and I'm very hopeful that we're
Speaker 2: going to be able to deliver on that promise.
Speaker 1: Yes, and obviously the city has been without an elected
Speaker 1: council for some time now. I know that people in
Speaker 1: this that we want to avoid a repeat of what
Speaker 1: led to commissioners taking over the council. How are you
Speaker 1: going to make sure that your counsel is different?
Speaker 2: I think the first thing is the team approach. So
Speaker 2: that's what I've been very focused on this week, building
Speaker 2: that team, trying to figure out what between us all
Speaker 2: sort of common themes and common visions and so you know,
Speaker 2: that's that's what we're still working on. But you know,
Speaker 2: as we sort of come together, it's it's forming a
Speaker 2: shared vision of where we want to get to and
Speaker 2: then kind of making that plan of how we're going
Speaker 2: to get there. And you know, there's obviously everyone's got
Speaker 2: different priorities as to what they want to achieve, but
Speaker 2: some of them are in similar veins. So it's you know,
Speaker 2: just just really formulating that together. And I think you know,
Speaker 2: as I said, from the discussions we've had so far,
Speaker 2: you know, everyone just wants the best for the city
Speaker 2: and they want to see it succeed. So you know,
Speaker 2: that's it's a really good starting place that you know,
Speaker 2: everyone's prepared to leave their egos and agendas at the
Speaker 2: door and you know, just deliver what's best for the city.
Speaker 1: And obviously it's early days, but can you give some
Speaker 1: examples of where you can see some alignment around that
Speaker 1: council table on particular issues or ways to address them.
Speaker 2: I think you know, generally people see what what the
Speaker 2: issues are and these are these have come from the campaign,
Speaker 2: and you know everyone understands that that. You know, we've
Speaker 2: got massive infrastructure deficit that we've we've got to deliver.
Speaker 2: There's traffic and transport issues. You know, we need to
Speaker 2: find a way to solve housing because you know we're
Speaker 2: short on houses and houses that are the most unaffordable
Speaker 2: in this city. So I think those general themes have
Speaker 2: come through from from everyone and it's just kind of
Speaker 2: more the conversations we've got to got to have as
Speaker 2: we see this as an issue, but how we're going
Speaker 2: to because we just don't have enough money to do everything?
Speaker 2: So how are we going to prioritize that? Is there
Speaker 2: ways we can do this with you know, some some
Speaker 2: changes that we can deliver more for that same budget.
Speaker 2: So I think I think there's some good opportunities there
Speaker 2: just to get that value for money of that spend there.
Speaker 1: And you have a personal mandate as the mayor with
Speaker 1: what is shaping up to be a landslide victory, what
Speaker 1: are your sort of top three policies that you want
Speaker 1: to implement during your term.
Speaker 2: I think for me, the biggest thing as on one
Speaker 2: of ten boats around the table. So that's really clear that,
Speaker 2: you know, I don't really bring any mandate to be
Speaker 2: able to say we're gonna we're going to do this,
Speaker 2: we're going to do that, We're going to you know,
Speaker 2: any or anything else, but you know, some of those
Speaker 2: things I've spoken about, I really just want to get
Speaker 2: out there and start delivering and making sure that we
Speaker 2: get stuff done. Uh. You know, I want to make
Speaker 2: it easier for people to deal with the counsel and
Speaker 2: to get stuff done. But we're only going to do
Speaker 2: that by being a team with ourselves, you know, being
Speaker 2: a team with the other council staff, being a team
Speaker 2: with the community. So we're delivering what they want and
Speaker 2: getting alongside central government and uh and you know again
Speaker 2: saying look we are the can do counsel and we're
Speaker 2: going to help you solve a lot of your issues
Speaker 2: while we solve ours. Let's work together and you know,
Speaker 2: really deliver. So you know, that's very much. I guess
Speaker 2: how I see this, and you know I guess from
Speaker 2: me personally. You know what I'd love to say is
Speaker 2: in four years time, people go man tearing. It is
Speaker 2: an example of a council that's that's doing a great job.
Speaker 2: You know, that's really you know, where where i'd like
Speaker 2: to get to. And I'm you know, quietly confident that
Speaker 2: we can get there with the team we've got and
Speaker 2: you know, people's attitudes which is fantastic.
Speaker 1: And as you've said, money is tight. So in terms
Speaker 1: of you know, spending money wisely being careful with it,
Speaker 1: are there any strategies at this point as to what
Speaker 1: that might actually look like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think for me it's really key is that
Speaker 2: value for money. So you know how I look at
Speaker 2: things is, you know, there's a lot of things we want,
Speaker 2: but you know, does it make sense at that price?
Speaker 2: You know that that it's delivering value for the residents
Speaker 2: and and rate payers of the city, So you know,
Speaker 2: that's very much. I guess how I look at it
Speaker 2: on the lens and you know, bike paths all over
Speaker 2: the city at ten million may may make sense, but
Speaker 2: at billion dollars they don't, you know. So so that's
Speaker 2: the sort of you know, the lens that I bring
Speaker 2: to the table, and you know, it's just trying to
Speaker 2: make those decisions, make good decisions. And then if something
Speaker 2: that you think this is actually really important, but where
Speaker 2: you know, at the moment it's too expensive, how can
Speaker 2: we you know, what sort of misers do we need
Speaker 2: to make to deliver that? With you maybe ninety percent
Speaker 2: of what we want, you know, taking out the nice
Speaker 2: to haves, but still gives that functionality that we need.
Speaker 2: So I guess that's how I see it at the moment.
Speaker 2: But again, you know, it's it's about sitting around that
Speaker 2: table and together delivering with the team.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if you've had a chance to look
Speaker 1: at the council books so to speak, but obviously the
Speaker 1: big story for local councils this year has been their
Speaker 1: dismal finances. Things are really tight, rates increases are high.
Speaker 1: Are you nervous about seeing the full extent of totong
Speaker 1: a city Council's box And if you have already seen it,
Speaker 1: what did you make of it?
Speaker 2: Well, we've seen the long term plan, we've seen the
Speaker 2: Prayer election report, so now I haven't seen the final numbers. Look,
Speaker 2: it's a problem we're facing right across the country. Both
Speaker 2: central government local government costs have risen dramatically. You know,
Speaker 2: things are just costing a lot to build and you know, unfortunately,
Speaker 2: I think the local body system of relying on the
Speaker 2: rate payers is not a is not a sustainable one.
Speaker 2: So you know that's where we've got to get a
Speaker 2: little bit innovative. You know, rates are going to rise,
Speaker 2: that's just a fact, and you know that's happening right
Speaker 2: across the country. But you know, our job is to try,
Speaker 2: I guess, you know, get that value for money so
Speaker 2: that they're not out of control, but we're very aware
Speaker 2: of what people are facing and it's tough out there
Speaker 2: across the board. So as a council we've got to
Speaker 2: sort of, i guess, lead by example and tighten our
Speaker 2: belts and you know, show that we can start delivering
Speaker 2: some better value for money.
Speaker 1: And one of the things that cropped up on the
Speaker 1: campaign trail was that you do not live in total
Speaker 1: on a city. Will you be moving there now that
Speaker 1: you're going to be the mayor and if so, when
Speaker 1: can we expect that to happen?
Speaker 2: Yes, So basically, our kids are at school till the
Speaker 2: end of the year and once they finished then we'll
Speaker 2: look to move over here. And you know, there's another
Speaker 2: whole more more from my mott wife's perspective, but you know,
Speaker 2: just just finding new schools and houses and and sort
Speaker 2: of making ourselves at home is the next challenge on
Speaker 2: the horizon. And as we know, if the most expensive
Speaker 2: houses are in New Zealand's that's not it's not an
Speaker 2: easy challenge.
Speaker 1: Can the counsel do anything about the fact that, you know,
Speaker 1: housing in total is so expensive. Do you have any
Speaker 1: views on how the council can help with that issue?
Speaker 2: Well, I'm I'm I guess, you know, from a financial background,
Speaker 2: so I look at it from an economic lens that
Speaker 2: it's a supply and demand thing. So you know, what
Speaker 2: can we do as council, Well, we can help from
Speaker 2: the supply side of things and make it easier for
Speaker 2: people to deliver houses, because if we deliver more houses generally,
Speaker 2: then you increase the supply and prices come down. But
Speaker 2: you know there's also I think the government you have
Speaker 2: a big role to play, and they're doing their part
Speaker 2: with you know, trying to make the RMA a little
Speaker 2: bit easier to navigate, you know, bringing in building materials
Speaker 2: from other countries so we sort of get rid of
Speaker 2: that monopoly on materials in this country, and you know,
Speaker 2: little things like that, just just cutting some of the
Speaker 2: red tape and delivering infrastructure projects. I've heard you know,
Speaker 2: traffic management can be up to forty percent of that
Speaker 2: cost for delivering that, so you know it's sort of
Speaker 2: you know around those edges, can is there places we
Speaker 2: can save a bit of money and and make things
Speaker 2: a bit easier for people, So so we can deliver
Speaker 2: and you know, we're going to have to probably have
Speaker 2: some density here as well, because you know, we asked
Speaker 2: done to run out of land.
Speaker 1: And just on the makeup of your counsel, only one
Speaker 1: woman has been voted onto total in a city council.
Speaker 1: Are you disappointed with that? And why do you think
Speaker 1: that's happened?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it is a bit disappointing, to be honest,
Speaker 2: because you know, there was some some fantastic female candidates
Speaker 2: out there, and you know, I guess that's just a
Speaker 2: little bit of the intricacies of voting. And you know,
Speaker 2: thankfully Jen who is is the counselor, that's a female.
Speaker 2: She's a very capable and you know, is a is
Speaker 2: a fantastic candidate. So she'll certainly be representing the female
Speaker 2: side very very adequately throughout her term.
Speaker 1: And finally, you've got four years as mayor before the
Speaker 1: next local body election. It's something some councils and even
Speaker 1: central government could only dream of, that four year term.
Speaker 1: How do you think having that extra year will help
Speaker 1: and what do you hope total it will look like
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think it's fantastic, you know, and I
Speaker 2: think a lot of the issues that local bodies face
Speaker 2: is that under investment, because you know, we want to
Speaker 2: keep the ratepayer happy for three years so that you know,
Speaker 2: you get voted in again, and sometimes that means you
Speaker 2: don't make the big calls that need to be done.
Speaker 2: So I think we've got to take a longer term
Speaker 2: view and you know, obviously educate people a little bit
Speaker 2: better as to what we're doing and why, so that
Speaker 2: they understand some of those big decisions. And you know,
Speaker 2: what do I want to see to longa look like
Speaker 2: in four years? Well, for me, success is one. We've
Speaker 2: done a great job around the council table. We worked
Speaker 2: at this team and started to deliver for the residents.
Speaker 2: But you know, secondly, I think when we look at
Speaker 2: the city, we say, you know, this city is isn't
Speaker 2: a better place And it's a better city than you
Speaker 2: know when we started today. And I'm very excited about
Speaker 2: what's going on here because there's a lot a lot happening.
Speaker 2: The CBDs being revitalized and that's going to be the
Speaker 2: real heart of our city. And hopefully, you know, this
Speaker 2: city is going to be fantastic in the future. But
Speaker 2: you know, we'll have a little bit of a hand
Speaker 2: in the next four years, but you know, it's it's
Speaker 2: going to take going to take probably another ten to
Speaker 2: fifteen at least until we can can see you know,
Speaker 2: the city in being the best city in New Zealand.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us, and congratulations again on
Speaker 1: your result.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: That's it for this episode of On the Tiles Local edition.
Speaker 1: You can read more politicsnews at ziherld dot co dot NZID.
Speaker 1: On the Tiles is produced by Ethan Sells Patty Fox
Speaker 1: as the sound engineer. I'm Georgina Campbell. Subscribe to On
Speaker 1: the Tiles on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts,
Speaker 1: and you can tune in on Fridays for the latest episode.