They included former NZ First MP Darroch Ball, former National Party candidate William Wood, and return city council candidate and local government commentator Andy Asquith. As a relatively unknown newcomer, Mikalad said he had worked hard and spent a lot on quality brochures and social media to improve his visibility. Mikalad said he had been planning to stand for the council in 2022, and had been saving towards that goal for a while before this year’s opportunity arose when former deputy mayor Tangi Utikere resigned after being elected as the city’s Labour MP. “A lot of feedback I got was that I was visible and putting in the effort. I wanted it more than anyone, to be able to serve the community, while the others relied to an extent on name recognition.”
Palmerston North s new councillor the first former refugee to be elected
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The average age of city residents is 33, one of the lowest in New Zealand, yet there were no Palmerston North city councillors aged less than 30. Swarbrick said all the young candidates were invited to the forum, Green or not, because it made it more interesting to hear a diversity of views. William Wood, 19, and Orphee Mikalad, 30, along with Rozenberg and Speller took up the invitation, but Nikita Skipper put in a late apology. Wood said it looked like voter turnout for the by-election might be as low as 28 per cent. That was because so many young people did not know what the council was, and because councillors were not engaging successfully with their community.
“Investing in infrastructure is key to ensuring that the city can grow and meet the environmental requirements set both by law and the rising expectations we have as citizens. This will clearly result in increases in rates, but a failure to invest in key assets will cost much more in the long run. “Look at the mess other places are in by a failure to act.” He said too often councils tried to keep rates down at the expense of key infrastructure projects, but Palmerston North would not fall into the trap. The youngest candidate, William Wood, said the new wastewater treatment plant was a necessity, not a “nice to have”.
Andy Asquith, the highest polling unsuccessful council candidate at the 2019 election, said the council wasn’t visible or transparent enough in its work. He promised to hold regular meetings for people to discuss issues with him. He advocates each councillor representing an area of the city in which they don t live, and would like “fundamental reform” for how rates are levied. Green Party-endorsed candidate Vanessa Rozenberg highlighted the climate crisis and social housing as important issues. Participation in civic matters needed improving and the council needed to be visible. Stefan Speller said people were regularly taking tumbles on city footpaths and they needed to be brought up to standard. He would also like to see more family- and pet-friendly spaces in the city.
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