He would not say the reason for change of decision, other than that he wanted to step down from the top job and spend more time on issues close to his heart as a councillor.
Larsen, of Topuni, was first elected to KDC in 2010. He resigned in protest in August 2012, just under two years into a three-year term.
He said he left over his dissatisfaction with the council making closed-door decisions on the future of the controversial Mangawhai wastewater scheme, including $30 million in extra spending on the project.
Larsen said he had brought this matter to the attention of the Auditor-General,m Government ministers and the Ombudsman.
The Government appointed commissioners to run KDC in September 2012.
Larsen was re-elected in 2016 and has been a KDC politician since. If successful in October, he would be elected for a fifth term.
He has a Bachelor of Science degree and an Executive Master of Business Administration degree with first-class honours.
Jepson’s political move comes as first-term KDC councillor Ash Nayyar today said for the first time that he would vie for the top job.
Dargaville’s Nayyar believed too many KDC decisions were being made behind closed doors and unnecessary pet projects were being adopted by the council.
He said he was unhappy KDC, in his opinion, had generally ignored the voice of the people during public consultation.
Nayyar claimed Kaipara’s west had been neglected and as mayor he would do justice to all parts of the district.
He has a Master of Business Administration degree, Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Law degrees and 40 years’ banking experience.
Jepson’s big calls as mayor
In his first controversial move, Jepson canned karakia from council meetings in November 2022, just two months into the job.
In August 2024, KDC became the only council to can its Māori ward after Government law changes – one of Jepson’s proudest achievements, and one that was also backed by Larsen.
Jepson said he was proud of his council’s “small” 8.2% rates rise for 2025/2026.
He said another positive move was his council’s withdrawal from national councils representative body Local Government New Zealand.
The mayor said there were a range of issues he wanted to work on as a councillor, including eradicating mangroves.
“I want to get rid of mangroves from our harbours, not just Mangawhai Harbour, but Kaipara Harbour and the whole of Northland,” Jepson said.
He also wanted to boost the fight against Auckland’s Dome Valley landfill – which is just across the local political border in Auckland Council - and educate people about the merits of waste to energy technology.
He has strongly campaigned for such a plant in Kaipara.
Larsen and Jepson jointly conducted information visits to constituents around Kaipara on the plants.
Jepson has long challenged current science backing climate change. KDC axed its Ruawai-based Northland climate change pilot midstream.
KDC also got rid of its key climate change policy in 2023 in a move brought to the council table by Larsen.
Larsen said that even if climate change was a reality, the actions of Kaipara’s 18,000 ratepayers would not make a jot of difference in a world with eight billion people.
Jepson was elected with a big majority in 2022.
He said many had encouraged him to stand again, to do a “lap of victory”, but being a local politician was not about ego but what was best for the district.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
