She is right on time and looking sharp.
For someone who had to think hard whether to stand again when her husband Rob Davidson was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, Dalziel is energised, upbeat and focused on winning the election and leading the city again.
Davidson, too, is doing well.
“It has not been easy. The diagnosis was a big hit to both of us but he has responded incredibly well to treatment,” she said.
“He will be on treatment for the rest of his life, but he is looking well, he goes to the gym and is actively involved in his work.”
Davidson is even back riding his motor-cycle, she adds, and then quips he is sticking to the speed limit, a cheeky reference to losing his licence in 2016 for three months for going a tad too fast.
But onto the matter of being re-elected and politics.
It was the same in 2013, when Dalziel swept to victory at her first attempt at mayor, taking 72,600 votes, just under 50,000 more than the second most popular candidate Paul Lonsdale.
Londsale is back for a tilt at local politics again, after losing his council seat in 2016. But he won’t be challenging for mayor – he is standing in the Halswell Ward.
But even with two landslide victories behind her, Dalziel is not taking October’s election lightly. The highly experienced political campaigner, long-time Christchurch East and Christchurch Central MP and former Labour Cabinet Minister knows nothing can be taken for granted in an election.
Unpopular council decisions are part and parcel of political life, and as mayor, she knows the public will point the finger at her, even though she is just one vote on the council.
“There is no point me pretending that I’m not the mayor. Councillors can run to the media and say they thought a certain decision was stupid, I can’t do that and I’m not going to do that during the campaign either,” she says.
“If the council has made the decision I’m standing by the decision, I will take responsibility for the decisions that are made, it is my role to do so.”
The recent appointment of new council chief executive Dawn Baxendale on a $495,000 salary, an $80,000 increase from her predecessor Karleen Edwards, has seen critics take aim.
“We were always going to be appointing a new CE at this time as the previous contract expired in June this year. Dawn Baxendale brings a wealth of experience to the role and I am looking forward to working with her,” Dalziel says.
The continued chlorination of Christchurch’s water supply after the Government made sweeping changes to water regulation has also been a source of frustration for the public.
“People have told me they support the work I am doing to get the chlorine out of our water and more importantly keep it out. They know chlorine has been forced upon us because of what happened in Havelock North not anything that’s happened here.”
In 2016 a campylobacter outbreak into Havelock’s drinking water supply led to four people dying and 5000 falling violently ill.
The city council has also received a lot of criticism for neglecting basic infrastructure in the east.
Ms Dalziel said the revitalisation of the east remained and would continue to be a priority for her should she be re-elected.
“We need a fully integrated programme of works for the east, I have loosely called this the eastern alliance, which would essentially be an alliance of contractors who can take the whole area bit by bit and systematically get the work done.”
Dalziel is reluctant to discuss too much about the 12 other mayoral hopefuls. In fact, she says she doesn’t know a lot about a number of them.
She seems to have a soft spot for Minto, the former anti-Springbok tour campaigner from the early 1980s, who is now pushing for improved standards for city council-owned social housing units.
“He is a passionate person who has a heart for the people, gosh I can remember going on the march in 1981 against the Springbok tour. I have always been an admirer of people who stand up for their principles,” she says.
Businessman Darryll Park may be the dark horse of the campaign.
The Canterbury Rugby and Crusaders board member and co-owner of a number of bars in Christchurch was a surprise challenger for the mayoralty. He also has a business background in travel.
Says Dalziel: “I like Darryll, I know him relatively well.”
But she questions Park’s election pledge of zero rates increases, seeing it as “unsustainable.”
Getting rates increases down towards the rate of inflation in the coming years was much more realistic and would be a priority of Dalziel.
Rates increased by 4.98 per cent this year, a reduction from the 5.5 per cent increase which was initially expected. It is projected over the next 10 years rates will increase on average five per cent a year.
Rates were part of running a city, she said.
“A lot of people don’t think about what their rates go towards but from the minute that you wake up in the morning and switch on the tap, there is something the council is doing to touch your life.”
So what does Dalziel think she and the council have achieved in the past three years.
“The completion of major projects, including the city’s new central city library, Tūranga, and the completion of the Christchurch Town Hall, including a much-improved James Hay Theatre and a purpose-built building for the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.
“Seeing the regeneration plan for the red zone signed off. Getting the Government to allocate sufficient funds required for us to commit to building our new stadium as a multi-use arena right in the heart of the city.”
Last month Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods approved the city council’s regeneration plan for the red zone. Last year the city council secured $220m of funding for the planned multi-use arena in the central city.
A Dalziel-led council also received praise from the cycling community for progress on an extensive cycleway – but it has been heavily criticised by business owners and residents concerned about losing car parks.
The March 15 terror attacks were undoubtedly the low point of this term for Dalziel.
Dalziel was in Cathedral Square at the school strike for climate protest when the attacks happened.
Like many in the city the magnitude of what had happened took a while to register. Could this have actually happened in Christchurch?
“The protest was winding down and one of my staff showed me her phone that indicated that there had been a shooting at the mosque and people were lying on the ground.
“My instant feeling was that can’t be right I actually thought that is irresponsible reporting, that can’t be true.
“We walked back to the council building and when we got back some of the students had gone inside the council building and were protesting around the first and second floor.
“I went upstairs and jumped up on a couch and addressed them about climate change. At this stage I still didn’t believe what had happened it just didn’t register, so I kept responding to questions about climate change.
“Then somebody said you are going to have to tell them they are going to have to stay [because of a lockdown]. So I got back up and said ‘I’m really sorry but this is really serious there has been a shooting,’ that is when it started to become real.
“Someone, must of been one of the staff, and they said something like it was 40 people had been killed and I felt sick. I could almost feel like a pain in the pit of my stomach, it was a physical reaction to what was the most horrific news.”
Christchurch’s response to the attacks brings a smile back to Dalziel’s face.
“The people of Christchurch were extraordinary and I knew that Christchurch people would react that way, I knew on Friday night (March 15) they would want to pay their respects and support the community that had been attacked.
“I knew that because that is what happened after the earthquakes and I knew that heartfelt goodness would prevail. The international response would not have happened without that.”
She says Christchurch has come a long way from the huge issues it faced post quake in 2013 when she first became mayor.
“When I came in there was no insurance settled and we did not know what the terms of the cost-sharing agreement were until after the new council was elected.”
In 2013, a cost-sharing agreement was made behind closed doors which split nearly $5 billion of earthquake costs. Last month the city council approved the global settlement agreement which will finalise the remaining costs of the earthquake recovery between the Crown and the council, it is waiting for the final sign off from Cabinet.
So the final question: Why should people vote for Dalziel?
“My political experience in local and central government is a real asset in terms of the different roles a mayor plays. Leading the council isn’t like chairing a board as some people think – it means working with councillors across the political spectrum in a very inclusive way, showing leadership on issues but always being open to compromise in order to achieve consensus where possible.
“The thing is that the work has not finished, the work is not yet done.”
Other mayoral candidates
Blair Anderson
JT Anderson
Jim Glass
Tubby Hansen
Robin McCarthy
Stephen McPaike
John Minto
Darryll Park
Sam Park
Andrian-Cosmin Schönborn
Peter Wakeman
Aaron White
