Campaign Statement
I have lived in Paraparumu for three years, but have been visiting here since childhood when my grandmother built her house here in the early 1960s. I have seen first hand the transformation from a sleepy beach village that came alive each summer to the large developed towns we now have.
I am employed in a government SOE, in an investment team that manages $14billion of public money.
I became involved and interested in Council issues during the Expressway debate. It was not long before I became increasingly concerned at Council processes and lack of transparency. I believe that Council, and particularly the Mayor, had a responsibility to lead the community through a fraught issue, not divide the community with vitriolic rhetoric to protect self interests. Unfortunately, we had a Council that demonstrated lack of transparency, an unwillingness to listen and an inability to put aside individual bias.
Which all lead to my decision to stand as a District Wide candidate.
I believe Kāpiti can be a truly vibrant place to live and work if we encourage targeted economic development that is sensitive to the environment and communities. A sound economic base in turn provides us with the ability to support good social well-being programmes.
We need to foster a commonsense partnership between Council and the community, with Council making sensible decisions to meet the community needs and the wider public good. We need to prioritise spending so the essential needs of the District are met, and so we can attain affordable progress.
But above all, we need a Council that truly listens to the community and does not take a “we know best” attitude. If elected, I pledge to work collaboratively with Councillors and the Mayor to ensure good governance processes and a united Council working for the community.
