Editorial: Have a say in future of the Bay

Andrew Austin, Hawke's Bay Today editor, will moderate the debate between incumbent mayor Lawrence Yule, current Hastings District councillor Adrienne Pierce and local lawyer Guy Wellwood.

The elections will soon be upon us and I am getting a sense that the electorate in Hawke's Bay is gearing up to make a significant statement about who they want to elect to our local authorities.

So much has happened in our communities and many people have a clear sense of how they want our towns and cities run.

Hawke's Bay Today plans to give readers every opportunity to make informed decisions. We have already started our election coverage with candidate profiles.

We will also be putting the hard questions to the candidates and conducting extensive interviews with the mayoral candidates across the region.

We will also be holding debates as in recent years Hawke's Bay Today has held a number of very successful public meetings.

So, on Thursday, September 8, we will hold our first debate between the three people who want to be the next Mayor of Hastings.

I am pleased to say that the incumbent mayor Lawrence Yule, current Hastings District councillor Adrienne Pierce and local lawyer Guy Wellwood have all agreed to participate.

The debate will be held at 6pm at Karamu High School, which has once again kindly agreed to host the event.

I will moderate the debate, so if you have any questions that you would like me to ask the candidates, please send them to editor@hbtoday.co.nz.

This is your chance to hear what the candidates have to say.