Mayor of Dunedin

Sound investment plans to ensure the city gets the best out of its investments – the Waipori Fund, investment properties and Group companies.

Introduce a targeted rate to help pay for local social housing and increase annual investment into housing during a time of housing crisis.

Introduce a levy on developers to fund infrastructure in new sub divisions. Housing is no longer affordable, we need to focus on social housing.

Provide clear transparency around where council expenditure goes.

Invest in core council business first, but don't leave out growing our facilities that residents want, and deserve.

Advocate for rates reductions.

Aim to reduce debt.

Advocate for redirection of GST revenue from construction to local government for infrastructure development.

Debt is a slave master. I will attempt to pay it down while maintaining community assets in council ownership. Most especially water.

It is not good enough to hide costs of assets behind multiple companies. This needs to be attended to in regards to some of Dunedin's assets.

Fees and charges are a disincentive for community engagement so this needs attention. Rates are a reflection of council costs.

Reduce debt and keep rates to 5 percent or less. Rates are too high and unaffordable for many. We need more sensible spending.

Partner with a community housing provider and lease our social housing to them so they can run council's community housing.

Common sense spending. No more reports that cost 100s of thousands. No more $30,000 spends on fake flowers or dots. (Dots were subsidised).

I will keep rate increases in line with inflationary expectations.

I disapprove of intergenerational debt and would like divert resources towards investments that increase our wealth away from woke Ideas.

I would like to keep our water assets, our educational assets, our road assets, our building assets, our power assets etc in our control.

Review budgets to focus on essentials, then have a program of genuine participation with councillors about what comes next in priority.

Review council controlled companies to improve returns to council.

Review council investments to optimise them.

Reject the politics of austerity, which would slash council budgets, and continue to invest in the future of our city.

Keep council's debt limit at current levels in the financial strategy (250% of revenue).

Keep rates rises to sensible and appropriate amounts that community find acceptable.

Stop council adding last minute rates rises through Annual Plan process by not supporting ad-hoc, non-researched and analysed pet projects.

Manage council council-controlled organisations much more closely through better monitoring, accountability and control so they contribute funds to council.