KEY POINTS:
Just as Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey's lofty plans for a sustainable urban city reach a milestone, along comes a challenger to his 15-year rule, someone who is known as widely as himself as a proud Westie and who, too, can charm a crowd with his enthusiasm and vision.
John Tamihere said his bid for Mr Harvey's job felt right.
"I'm a proud born 'n' bred Westie you know, I like working closely with my community and in Parliament, in Cabinet, I was frustrated - I couldn't get in place the programmes I wanted to achieve under the present leadership."
Since losing the Tamaki Makaurau seat to Dr Pita Sharples in 2005, the former Cabinet minister has regained his old job as chief executive of the Waipareira Trust, an urban Maori authority that contracts to deliver government services in West Auckland and also runs businesses.
He also co-hosts a show on Radio Live, with Willie Jackson, who is also known as a champion of urban Maori and who is running for Mayor of Manukau.
Mr Tamihere said his defeat as an MP was not a barrier to his latest venture.
"My popularity has probably got better. What they like out here are straights and it doesn't matter what I did in my political career, at least I said it straight.
"What they like out here is how you walk away from a crash. It's not the crash that counts - it's how you conducted yourself in sorting it out afterwards."
Mr Tamihere, 48, is yet to publicly launch the policy planks which he hopes will help him defeat Mr Harvey, 65, who is seeking a sixth term.
But expect Mr Tamihere's campaign to emphasise after 15 years it's time for a change to counter Mr Harvey's slogan "Trust ... that's what it's all about."
Expect Mr Tamihere also to fully exploit the fact that the city's rates income has risen by 21.42 per cent over the past three years, and the spectre of the council's unknown liability for the leaky homes crisis.
"The impact of rate rises is at tipping point for families on the average wage. You can't escape rates but there is a need to revise the quality and size of city council spending," said Mr Tamihere.
Mr Harvey is regarded as the frontrunner.
He said he had been "banging on about the environment long before Al Gore" and is starting to deliver the 2020 vision of Waitakere becoming a compact, sustainable urban city.
He also reports significant progress with his ambitions for the council to turn an apple warehouse into the "Hollywood of the South Pacific" and for its land purchase at the former Hobsonville Air Base to become the "Southern Hemisphere capital of superyacht building."
Whoever wins the race, the first test will be steering the council through a possible change to the basis of calculating the rates. Presently it is land value, which is based on the value of a bare section of a property.
The possible change to capital value, which includes improvements such as buildings, will be controversial because it means some people will pay more rates than before.
The average residential rate is $1680, including wastewater charges.
However, the system is said to allow a fairer distribution of rating liability.
The runners
* Rebecca Broad - Worker's Party
* Peter Chan - city councillor
* Linda Cooper - city councillor
* Bob Harvey - present mayor
* Steve McDonald - Henderson Community Board member
* John Tamihere - former Cabinet minister, chief executive of the Waipareira Trust.
