Juno Hayes
Age: 66
Marital status: married to Diane 16 years, eight children.
Occupation: sawmiller and forestry grower, and mayor.
Council experience: 33 years, the last 12 as mayor.
Describe yourself in three words: "Outgoing, friendly, respectful".
Taking stock of where the Clutha district is and not tying ratepayers into funding "feel-good projects" will be the hallmarks of Juno Hayes' next term as mayor, should he be re-elected, he says.
Mr Hayes believes his wealth of experience and the vast network of contacts he has amassed in his 33 years in local government make him a viable and valuable mayor.
With local governments battling the recession and the second-largest roading network in New Zealand to maintain, Mr Hayes is advocating a softly-softly approach to starting new projects, to avoid heaping more cost on the ratepayer.
"My term, when I get re-elected, will be one of being cautious and not getting too carried away, because the big-ticket items we have approved up till now - you add another $50 or $100 to a rate and it all adds up."
Why are you standing?
I'm standing because I really enjoy the position.
I had thought that perhaps my time had come [to stand down], but I never had any inkling of the public sentiment out there.
This job is about listening to what people tell you, and if what they are telling me is correct, that will be determined on October 9.
Why did you think your time had come?
Well, when you've done 33 years, it's a pretty good run and I thought well, possibly, it was time to step aside, because no-one wants to get kicked out of the job.
You want to be in control of your own destiny.
It will probably have an effect on some people to say, "well, he can't make up his mind", but when you have such a response from the community, you don't ignore that.
What have been the biggest achievements in your time on the council?
Councils are all about the unity of thought and willingness to make things happen.
We have a very talented, professional organisation.
The thing that makes me really proud of this council is that ... we do not owe a single dollar in debt, and there are very few councils who can say that.
What about all these 20-year loans for things like the recreation centre?It's funded by cash from the ratepayers and set aside.
We borrow our own money back and pay the interest on that, so therefore we lose nothing.
Not one dollar goes outside to a finance company or anything else, so the council and the district have 100% benefit from what we do because we don't have any leakage, and that to me is prudent management.
What is your position on the recreation centre?
Well, we had a huge response with people wanting it.
It's a great asset.
When we did the community consultation a few years ago, they told us it's very important that to be part of this community, you need to have things that people can do around the district.
We know that with people coming into the area to take up work, a question they put to us is 'what can you offer us? How many doctors have you got? Is there a hospital, a dentist, what's the decile rating of your school, what can I do in the weekends?'
Something other candidates have talked about is their concern about the district's declining population. What do you say about that?
Well, we don't want our population to decline, and that's part of what we are doing with the rec centre, making sure our infrastructure and things are up to speed.
Ten to 15 years ago, statistics predicted we would be down to about 12,000 or 13,000 people.
We've proved that wrong.
Even over the last year in the building statistics, there is something like 55 new houses built in the Clutha district in a year.
So, you don't think we have a declining population?
I think it's pretty static at the moment.
It's hanging in there.
What about increasing rates to fund non-essential services?
What my feeling is for this term coming up, we have some major projects under way and it's around infrastructure.
When you look around the area now, OK, the rec centre, it's going to take a lot of money to get it up and going.
In Milton, the council has put in a floodbank and flood-protection scheme.
That's over $1 million for their effort.
West Otago want to build a hospital over there and they're asking for $1 million.
That will be loan-funded.
In a few years' time we have got to look at whether we can replace the Clutha Valley bridge.
The recession that we are going through at the moment is nowhere near over and my message to the people out there would be we need to just take stock of where we are, do the essentials, and do what we need to go forward? We need to proceed very cautiously going forward, deal with the big issues that we have identified in our long-term plan, and not get too carried away on the feel-good things.
When it comes to the main street of Balclutha, we need to have those conversations to look ahead.
The community needs to know where the roading will go, because if you look at the way the town has been developed, if the main road was transferred across to Charlotte St, would it have been wise to build the hospital there? We need to have those clear directions ...
What plans do you have for the next three years?
Well, we've got our long-term council community plan and that's going to keep us pretty busy.
We are finding that in our road maintenance and things like that that some of the prices are lifting.
The Government gives us 60% of our roading costs; we have to find 40%.
Exactly half our council spend - $17 million - is going back into roading.
If we didn't have such a big roading structure, we would be able to do a lot of the feel-good things, but we simply can't do that.
We do it as much as we can.
What is your take on Clutha's doctor shortage?
It's a major problem right throughout the country, and it's a high level thing that I really think central government has to put a bit more effort into.
What makes you a good mayor?
The experience that I've had is a wonderful asset, and that experience has been built up over several years.
I have virtually met every mayor in the country.
Having those contacts ... is a great asset to have, and that can only be built up over time.
I have no difficulty going to Parliament and talking to select committees.
I know where to go when I'm looking for an answer, and that can only be built up over time.
The postal voting period is September 17 to October 9 (closing, noon).
Tomorrow: Bryan Cadogan (Clutha)
