Coastal-Burwood Community Board member Kelly Barber has told The Star he will face off against former two-term city councillor David East to replace Daniels as the city council’s Coastal Ward representative.
Daniels, a well-known radio host, announced earlier this month he will resign from his position as the city council’s Coastal Ward representative to take up a dream role hosting Newstalk ZB Afternoons with Simon Barnett.
East will run as an independent candidate, and Barber a The People’s Choice candidate.
The pair went head-to-head for the Coastal Ward seat in 2019’s local body election. East received 2456 votes to Barber’s 1199. Daniels won the seat with 2795 votes.
Barber said, if he is elected, his priority will be seeing partially finished projects in the Coastal Ward through to completion.
“I want to see things continue to progress. I want to see the estuary edge through, I want to see the Pages Rd bridge and the Pages Rd approach to the bridge finished off. I want to see all the rejuvenation projects that are going on, and have been funded through shovel ready [funding], I want to see them all done.”
East said there is unfinished business from his previous years on the city council that he wants to complete, including addressing the impacts of climate change on coastal areas in the “foreseeable future,” and adapting if things change.
His other priorities would be fixing roads and advocating for the city council to consider public consultation feedback more when making decisions.
Barber said people should vote for him because East “represents the past and, really, I’m only interested in the future.”
East believes his previous experience as Coastal Ward city councillor makes him the best candidate for the job.
“I believe I’ve got a huge amount of experience in the
way council operates and, of equal importance, my involvement with the coastal community in a number of community groups goes back a number of years.”
