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The Spinoff
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Spinoff
Who wants to be the next mayor of Hamilton?
There's a wide-open race to lead the city of the future. With incumbent mayor Paula Southgate headed for the door, it's anyone's game for the Hamilton mayoralty. Nominations for the race are now closed and 12 candidates are in the running. Tim Macindoe Yes, that is Tim Macindoe as in the former parliamentarian for the National Party circa 2008 to 2020 as MP for Hamilton East, who has represented the city council's East ward since February 2024. Despite being a ward representative himself, Macindoe is keen to scrap the ward system and keep a smaller council, and in the face of $1.25b in council debt, he's campaigning on the promise of balancing the council's books by putting a halt on the 'nice-to-haves' and fostering a 'customer-focused' mindset within council to keep investors and developers keen on the Tron. Clearly, Macindoe has skin in the game, but it also can't hurt his chances to have been one of the lobbyists who held the government to its promise to open a third medical school at the University of Waikato. Maria Huata This current Hamilton Māori ward representative has worn plenty of hats in her career: educator, broadcaster, translator, consultant, iwi representative, councillor and … mayor? Her campaign is largely focused on community wellbeing, telling a public forum in late July that she would address safety concerns in the city by tackling poverty, would like to establish something akin to the city's former youth council to give rangatahi a voice, and called for social housing to be designed alongside disadvantaged communities. Her broadcasting background also shines through in her hopes to revitalise the city's arts and culture offerings. Sarah Thomson A current two-term councillor and former lawyer, who once took the minister for climate change to court over the government's emission reduction goals, and kinda won but also kinda didn't. Her current work to date with the council has seen major growth in the city's natural vegetation by growing more trees and restoring local gullies, and she chairs the strategic growth and district plan committee. If elected mayor, Thomson wants to reduce the council's costs while still funding community wellbeing via City Safe and venues such as parks and pools, secure funding for a central community hub, and pressure central government to support the city's community services. Rachel Karalus A centrist and former chief executive of K'uate Pasifika Trust, and another 'back to basics' candidate who's got a 'head for detail, heart for Hamilton' – though she reckons she could balance community and commercial needs pretty well. Much like the prime minister, Karalus is keen on going for growth, with plans to reduce debt and support infrastructure projects while also prioritising environmental and social projects, and a push for the council and city to advance its technology. Rudi Du Plooy Known in some circles as 'Bokke Bo', this colourful conservative candidate has stood in a few local elections in his time and has yet to make it onto the council table. If he did, Du Plooy would like to see the city become more seniors-friendly, and would scrap IAWAI – the council-controlled organisation looking after water services across the city and Waikato district – and the city's proposed water metres, and instead investigate chlorine-free water system options and offer rates rebates for rainfall harvesters. Du Plooy is known to be pretty anti-vax (if that appeals to you, he's got a lot of content on Facebook you should check out), and once made it into the news for celebrating South Africa's Day of the Vow. Lily Carrington The youngest in the race and a representative for the Animal Justice Party. Carrington also ran for the mayoralty in 2022, with the goals of funding desexing programmes for animals and local shelters, and supporting the call for an independent commissioner for animals. Not much intel on what she'd do for the city's transport, infrastructure or economy, but at least your pet will have a voice. Dave Taylor A 'thought-leadership consultant' and Green-adjacent candidate with a storied background in writing and publishing, hailing from Hamilton West (where he is also running as ward representative). As a mayor, he wants to uplift Kirikiriroa's cultural and creative communities to boost the city's identity and tourism, would prioritise investments in long-term infrastructure and green, blue and urban spaces, and wants to keep the city's Māori ward. He says his parents named him after a very handsome paediatrician. Jack Gielen This is not Gielen's first rodeo in the local elections, and it may not be his last, having stood in every Hamilton mayoral election since 2010. He is a longtime candidate, pastor of the Church of Zion, singer of dittys and founder of the NZ Suicide Prevention Trust, a role which got him into hot water he was caught stalking funerals and providing dodgy advice with no qualifications. In the 2022 local elections, Gielen told the Herald he'd like to be the father of the city, would support car-free days to encourage public transport, and would keep a 24-7 open-office policy to hear his constituent's woes. He also reckons he's got a good grasp on housing affordability and climate change. Roma Tupaea-Warren Founder of the single-issue New Zealand Constitution Party, which called for the creation of a written constitution for Aotearoa, and is also no longer a political party. We're not sure what Tupaea-Warren would bring to Hamilton as mayor, but hopefully he'll get it in writing soon. Roger Stratford A man who stands for the 'common sense folk', and who has already lost an election to Macindoe, having failed to become the East ward representative in the 2024 byelection. Stratford reckons he's the one candidate with enough guts to stand up to Christopher Luxon, and due to the city's high population of South Africans, would issue an executive order to make Afrikaans an official language immediately upon becoming mayor (which is not something a mayor can do). Guy Wayne Temoni-Syme Husband of Tania Temoni-Syme, who ran unsuccessfully in the East ward byelection with the promises of freezing rates and repairing potholes. Mr Temoni-Syme hasn't yet announced what he'd offer to the city, but you could assume he's doing it out of love. John McDonald Perhaps some larger journalistic failings at play here, but it is unclear who John McDonald actually is, and what he's going to do about the Tron. Let's hope it's good.
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Two former Labour MPs vie for seats on Hamilton City Council
Photo: RNZ / Isra'a Emhail Two former Labour MPs will vie for a seat on the Hamilton City Council at the local body elections in October. Sue Moroney and Jamie Strange will run against a field of 26 candidates , including former National MP Tim Macindoe, in the East Ward. Six seats available in each of Hamiltons East and West wards. Macindoe, an incumbent councillor, is also standing for mayor. Moroney left Parliament in 2017 and has been the chief executive of the Community Law centres for the past seven years. Strange, a former school music teacher and church minister, exited Parliament in 2023. In total there were 51 candidates vying for a place on the council, including 12 for mayor. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
