Candidates front up for public meeting at Ascot

Tim Shadbolt and Suzanne Prentice yesterday told more than 100 people at a meet-the-candidates meeting why they should be the mayor of Invercargill – but the third mayoral contender Carl Heenan said he was not invited to the meeting.

Grey Power organised the meet-the-candidates meeting at the Ascot Park Hotel, with 33 contenders for the Invercargill City Council, Invercargill Licensing Trust, Environment Southland and Southern District Health Board taking the chance to tell the crowd why they should be elected next month.

Mr Heenan, when rung after the meeting and asked why he was absent, said no-one had invited him and he knew nothing about it. He could not be contacted by email, he said.

Grey Power president Geoff Piercy said the Invercargill electoral officer had supplied Grey Power with the email addresses of the candidates and invites had subsequently been sent out. The meeting had also been advertised in two newspapers, he added.

Grey Power had tried its best to contact everyone but it didn't have the addresses of half of the candidates, he said.

During the meeting earlier in the day, Mr Shadbolt told the crowd he was brought up on an orchard where he worked hard and he had continued to do so in employment and as Invercargill Mayor for 15 years.

He related to a wide cross section of the community which was important for a mayor; while a mayor also had to be a fighter for their community which he had proven to be on issues such as the central government's proposed SIT funding cuts.

"I believe when it comes to political campaigns you won't find anyone in this country as experienced as I am."

Invercargill had to stop the population from declining or it would face government funding cuts to core services, with Mr Shadbolt saying the health (biotech) industry was one that provided exciting opportunities for the city. He promoted the council's Awarua industrial land as the ideal base for an industry on the verge of finding a cure for diabetes.

Ms Prentice said she was standing for the mayoralty out of genuine concern for the city and its people.

She had become more and more concerned by the lack of confidence in the council's ability to make sound decisions with the interests of the people at heart, she said.

She was also concerned with the "needless expenditure" of ratepayers' money, saying if the council did not work towards one goal it could not do the best for businesses coming into the city.

She wanted the council's consents system "streamlined" to make it more viable for people to move to the city; and she wanted the council to be transparent, saying Invercargill needed focus, strong leadership and a united council.

- © Fairfax NZ News

Newest First

Oldest First

Kevin Middleton   #1   08:14 pm Sep 07 2010

Grey power get your database up to scratch,if you cant get hold of those that govern,how are you gonna look after those that need help in a earthquake/flood/fire/alien invasion ect. Experience compared to other avenues can not be done without, new ideas in governance to bring us into this century can not be overlooked as Invercargill still needs "jobs for the people". Why not employ both Tim & Suzanne as they both have the expertise & they both can do a far better job than anyone else & this will display the "people's passion"for mmp. Excluding Santa Clause of course.

Ad Feedback