Hastings residents will soon get the chance to hear from the six people who want to be the city's next mayor.
Hawke's Bay Today will next month host a debate among the candidates standing in the byelection for Mayor of Hastings, made necessary by Lawrence Yule's exit to stand successfully for the Tukituki parliamentary seat.
The debate, to be moderated by the newspaper's editor Andrew Austin, will be held at Karamu High School in Hastings at 6pm on Thursday, November 2.
Voting papers will go out then with the byelection closing on November 24.
Six candidates are running for mayor and all six will take part in the debate. They are acting mayor Sandra Hazlehurst, councillors Simon Nixon and Bayden Barber, Future Youth Party leader Allister Tosh, 19-year-old Waitawhara Tupaea (who is also standing in a Hastings council seat byelection) and Crownthorpe lemon orchardist Stuart Perry.
Any questions for the candidates can be emailed to editor@hbtoday.co.nz. The event will be livestreamed on Hawke's Bay Today's Facebook page.
A day earlier, on Wednesday, November 1, Hawke's Bay Today will hold a debate among the candidates taking part in the byelection for a council seat in the Hastings/Havelock North ward.
The seat was vacated by Adrienne Pierce, who stood unsuccessfully for the National Party in Palmerston North. The debate will be livestreamed on Hawke's Bay Today's Facebook page.
The candidates for the council position are Mr Tupaea, Whakatu local Jason Waitiri, Hastings resident Reon Robin, nurse and independent midwife Rizwanna Latiff, poet and Hawke's Bay Today columnist Bruce Bisset, Heretaunga Women's Centre chairwoman Eileen Lawson and local business owner Wendy Schollum.
This debate will be held at Hawke's Bay Today offices in Hastings and will be limited to a small number of people. If you would like to attend, email editor@hbtoday.co.nz.