One says he is outspoken and the other labels himself more the quiet guy who let things happen.
Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark and Southland District council mayor Rob Scott have different styles of leadership — but both find common ground when they say they are doing the best they can for their communities.
Both elected members will complete one year in their jobs this month after throwing their hats in the mayoralty ring following one term as councillors.
Mr Clark described his year as challenging.
The council was working well together and achieving some good outcomes, such as fast-tracking the regions’ museum construction and the resolution of the contract of the recycling plant, which guaranteed the jobs of workers with disabilities until 2027.
However, he also acknowledged some moments were not so good.
"We’ve had a few ups and downs.
"Certainly, around the time that involved [the resignation of] Nigel Skelt was a bit tense, but the council seems to operate as a group well."
Mr Skelt resigned in May after accusations of inappropriate behaviour from a ILT Stadium Southland’s female employee came to light when he was the general manager of the facility.
Mr Clark had been directly involved in the situation.
While he did not regret his actions, he said the challenging part "was the reaction of some councillors about the whole incident".
"I know the family involved very well and they have said to me, they appreciated the work I did.
"So, whether people think it’s an old boys network, and I was trying to cover up — that is not true."
Mr Clark also made national headlines after some controversial comments in public meetings.
"I wouldn’t do it again, knowing what I know now. But I don’t regret doing it."
Mr Clark said he was focused only on the outcomes for the city.
The list included freeing up some council land for housing issues, a combined building with SDC and Environment Southland, redeveloping Wachner Place, a new toilet for Russel Square and a pump track in south Invercargill.
He had uploaded a countdown to his phone which measured the number of days left in the job, which he called his sentence.
"I’ve had people asking me if that means that I don’t like the job.
"No! it is just to remind me every day that I have an awful lot of stuff to do."
Meanwhile, Mr Scott described his year as intense.
For him, it was hard to point out a specific challenge, as Southland was a big region with many communities.
However, Mr Scott believed he learnt a lot from the floods last month and said his focus had been building a strong foundation, right from the start.
"We’ve got 69 elected members, so that it is a challenge.
"I feel lucky to have such a good, strong, committed team of people and for me, that was important in those initial days to get everybody on board. I think that’s a core part of my job, leading the structure."
He believed this was the key to his council having a lower profile than some other regional councils.
"I think everyone is here for the right reason, and I think Cameron [McIntosh, SDC chief executive] and I both showed a strong commitment.
"The role for mayor isn’t about me and what I want to do — it’s about enabling our elected members to carry out what they want to do for Southland and then just to provide the platform and empower then."
One of the things he felt most proud of in this first year was building a bridge between the council and the communities. He believed many of them felt left out in the past but now were feeling more connected with the council.
He still wanted to achieve much more, such as balancing the infrastructure work which was urgently needed, including ageing bridges and roads, and rates affordability.
Mr Scott also wanted to review the current system, relationship and funding model with central government, as the region was quite large, with not many ratepayers.
"We contribute so much more into New Zealand then we actually get back.
"It’s time to get some of that back now because we can’t, as ratepayers, keep paying for the rest of the country."
