Q How have the first six months gone?
Extraordinarily quickly.
Q Is the job what you expected? Is it easier or harder than you thought?
Being mayor is better than I expected it would be in many ways. I absolutely love the variety of the job. One moment I might be discussing camping ground regulations, then the next funding for a community project, then the next learning about the benefits of placing covenants on endangered landscapes (that is just some of what one day this week covered). For whatever reason, days of great variety really suit my temperament. I haven’t found any aspect of the role harder than I expected, because I expected the role would be a challenging one.
Q What specific issues have you been working on and how would you describe progress to date?
The biggest concern to me and the council as a whole is a successful, balanced result to the minimum-flow determination being undertaken by the Otago Regional Council (ORC) on the Manuherikia River. Getting up to speed on this complex issue and getting to know many of the people involved in the debate has been a major focus. The council is now looking at gaining its own reliable information as to what the effect of a flow at the lowest level offered in the ORC consultation document would mean economically for the district.
Q What still needs to be done? What projects do you have planned?
We are having a period of growth in Central unprecedented outside of the goldrush and the dam construction days. This does have a down side though, and we are seeing that with very disturbing house and rent prices. The high house prices are fine if you own one, but I question how people starting out, especially young families, are supposed to get their foot on the ladder. I am working alongside others to develop a means of people being able to get into their first home in this district.
Q You campaigned saying you wanted to be a "different style of mayor", including bringing in "coffee mornings" with ratepayers. How are the cuppas going — what kind of things are people telling you?
My "coffee and a chat" idea remains one of my favourite things and still remains very popular. I generally have a line-up of people wanting to talk to me wherever I am in the district. I have had people wanting to talk about noisy neighbours, roads they are not happy with, or often it is a topical event people want to discuss. Sometimes people just want to come and say hi and have a chat about nothing in particular.
Q Do you travel far and wide in the job? What reception do you get in the big towns and the small ones?
I have an absolute determination that my role is that of the mayor of the whole of Central Otago and I put the time in to make that a reality, not just a title. That means a lot of early mornings on the road getting to meetings and events, or late nights coming home from them. I think the people of the Teviot and Maniototo in particular are getting used to seeing me turn up to things, which is how I like it. I have been humbled by the warm reception I get wherever I go.
Q What about your previous life as a lawyer? Do those skills help you as mayor? And do you miss working in your law practice?
Being a lawyer, particularly the work in criminal and family law, gave me a lot of insight into the way people tick, especially when they are under pressure. I believe that is useful in any role in life. Probably, though, my six years as a referee in the Disputes Tribunal has been the biggest help from the legal perspective. That role was invaluable in learning listening and mediation skills and being able to get to the core of a problem quickly. It also gave great experience in hearing both sides of an argument without preconceived ideas and then being able to bring those sides together at times, or at least be able to get them to see each other’s points of view. I only shut down the law practice a bit over a month ago and haven’t had time to miss it. I do, however, miss being a referee in the tribunal, which I ceased doing on being elected.
Q One of the issues you have spoken out about is irresponsible camping. Another cause you have said matters to you is social housing. How tough are you going to be with campaigns that you wage?
I am a big believer that you achieve a lot more by working alongside people, but that at times working alongside people may include some very frank discussions with them. The irresponsible camping issue — and why I got five other southern mayors together to sign the letter I wrote to the Government urging a tourism levy to pay for the infrastructure required for our districts to adequately manage the camping boom — is one example of that approach.
Q How do you predict or hope the Central Otago district will be looking by the end of the year? What would make you happy as you see the new year in?
By the end of 2017 I truly hope the ORC have put a minimum-flow regime on the Manuherikia that satisfies all parties concerned. I hope to see the Maniototo Hospital rebuild under way. I also hope to see the Chinese touring route from Queenstown to Dunedin that I have been working on established. I hope the success of our wine and fruit industries over recent years continues. Outside of that, given how blessed we are in this district, more of what we have been having would be just fine, especially when you look at the rest of the world. We have a family wedding early in January and getting through that without crying would be a good personal achievement to start the year on.
