KEY POINTS:
Three former health chiefs are trying to make a comeback in Auckland's health board elections, while one sitting member claims he has been locked out of his old ticket.
Garry Taylor, following three stints on Auckland health boards since the 1980s, is standing for the Waitemata District Health Board on a single issue reflected in his ticket's name: "Fix Emergency Department".
Ian Ward, who was the central Auckland board's chief financial officer until he resigned in 2003 following a conflict-of-interest allegation - which he rejects - is chasing a seat on the board on the Citizens & Ratepayers ticket.
Rex Paddy, a former manager of Starship children's hospital, has put up his hand for a Waitemata seat.
Dr Chris Chambers, elected to the Auckland board in 2004 on the C&R slate, has switched to the 1Auckland.com ticket of adult entertainment businessman and Boobs on Bikes parade organiser Steve Crow, on which his wife, Julie Chambers, is an Auckland City Council candidate.
"In effect C&R decided that they would not have Julie [a Hobson Community Board member] as a candidate for the city council. They severed contact with me as well," Dr Chambers, an anaesthetist, said yesterday.
C&R campaign manager Nicholas Albrecht confirmed Mrs Chambers was not selected for the ticket, but said Dr Chambers never put an application form in to stand for C&R, "so he was never considered". Mr Taylor was elected to the Auckland Area Health Board and became its chairman.
After it was sacked by the Government in 1989, he became its deputy commissioner in 1992. Later the Government appointed him to the Auckland Crown health enterprise and then to the organisation which became a DHB. Last night he said he only wanted to fix the problems of patients facing long delays at North Shore Hospital's emergency department, something which had affected a friend.
"The first thing is to find out exactly what the problem is; second, whether shifting resources within the budget can fix it; and third, if we can't fix it, then additional resources will be required."
Mr Ward, a business consultant, said his electoral bid was not to seek revenge against the board or its chairman Wayne Brown.
He and the chief executive at the time, Graeme Edmond, were accused by an Auckland board committee in 2003 of a conflict of interest, but in 2004 Mr Brown told a parliamentary committee that an investigation for the board had not found any such conflict.
Nearly 430 people are chasing the country's 147 elected district health board seats. Each board has seven elected positions and the Minister of Health can appoint up to four more people. The minister also appoints the chairperson and deputy chairperson.
None of the tickets contesting the Auckland board election have fielded seven candidates. Mr Albrecht said C&R hadn't because under the single transferable voting system a clean sweep would be impossible.
