In July, the people of Tauranga will choose who will be running their city for the first time in five years. A mayor and nine councillors will replace the four-person commission that has been in place since February 2021. To keep people informed ahead of the election on July 20, Local Democracy Reporting asked the 15 mayoral candidates their thoughts on four topics.
Before voting opens on June 29, readers will hear from each of the mayoral candidates. Olympic rower Mahé Drysdale lives in Cambridge with his wife and three children. The two-time Olympic gold medallist retired from rowing in 2021 and is now a financial adviser with Forsyth Barr.
Despite living in Cambridge, Drysdale said he was raised in Tauranga and knows the city well. The 45-year-old said his relevant experience with regard to local government was winning multiple times on the world stage. Drysdale is the director and trustee of multiple entities.
He is also the co-chairman of the Athletes Co-operative, which has sought to improve conditions for elite athletes with High-Performance Sport New Zealand. Drysdale is running for the mayoralty only. Tauranga is the least affordable city in New Zealand because of an infrastructure and housing deficit.
How would you address this? There is no one solution to solving these issues, I would use a multi-faceted approach. I would look to encourage high-density housing in and around Tauranga’s city centre, helping bring back vibrancy to the city. [I’d] continue to wor.
