For those of you who have been asking for me to give an overview of who I am and why I am standing for election: Here’s who I am and what I stand for – I am a core user of council services and I work and live in the community served by the TCC and the BOPDHB. If elected, I can not promise to lower rates or to turn the TCC debt burden around, because as a member of the public, I do not yet have the information needed to be able to make that promise. TCC employs a CEO and a CFO who have far greater business experience than I do. I believe the elected councillors have a responsibility to listen to their constituents, to take advice from experts in the field, and to so drive the governance of the city in the way that will best suit its population. At present one focus is the Tauranga Age Friendly Strategy which is vital over the next ten years for the sector of the population to which my parents belong. I fully support the core services that keep a city alive and serve its people – libraries, sports facilities and cultural venues and events. When we have these facilities we attract new residents, visitors and create jobs for our young people to come back to when they finish their tertiary studies or their gap time. Job creation and business opportunity support is going to be a necessary priority. As a mother, I know the challenges faced by young families here - $500 per child per year for swimming lessons, the small groups looking for accessible venues in which to showcase their performance skills, community-based, affordable activities. We can’t just rely on the beach for recreation. At the same time we need to decide what are the “Need to Haves” as opposed to the “Nice to Haves”. In summary, I want to be able to represent people – all ages, all stages, all cultures. I want to listen to the residents of Tauranga City and report their wants and needs back to Council, so that we can make Tauranga THE BEST place to live in New Zealand, but moving forward in a financially and environmentally sustainable way. And...I’m a really rocking chick with a passion for people and my community!
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 03:26:23 +0000