Hastings Mayoralty candidate interviews. Made with funding from NZ On Air.
In Local Focus video interviews for the upcoming local body election, Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst says she's just getting started and her electoral opponent says he wants to move faster.
Elected two years ago in a byelection, Hazlehurst has a new chief executive in her council team to oversee $2billion worth of assets across more than 5000sq km for 71,000 people.
Hazlehurst became a councillor in 2010 and wants a full term as mayor, determined to reflect people's wishes in everything the council does.
She's up against one-term councillor Damon Harvey who says he wants quicker decisions and stronger leadership.
The journalist-turned-PR-man made headlines over his stance on a gang-patching ceremony on Te Mata Peak, saying stronger action needed to be taken against antisocial gang behaviour.
The two candidates in the mayoral race have a lot in common. Both want the Plains Zone policy to continue. Hazlehurst says farming is an economic driver and so more people will be able to live in Hastings' CBD. Harvey goes one step further saying new apartment complexes within the CBD should be looked at.
