KEY POINTS:
It was hard to spot any point of difference between the main mayoral candidates at last night's great Manukau Mayoral Debate.
The 10 candidates at Manukau's TelstraClear events centre nominated community safety, affordability of rates, water rates and waste water, transport and the city's economic viability as their
campaign's pressing issues.
More stringent liquor licensing laws, maintaining that Manukau ratepayers would still not pay for their libraries and swimming pools, getting rid of tinnie houses and gangs and reducing excessive council expenditure also featured strongly.
And all agreed the one-city concept would not work for Manukau and more resources were required to address poverty in the city.
There was disagreement, however, over the council's uniform annual general charge, with former Olympian Dick Quax saying he was the only candidate who actively promoted an increase to it. He said everybody should pay as close to the midrange as possible but 70 per cent were paying below that level at the moment.
But he was accused of "flip-flopping" by incumbent council and district health board member David Collings, who said Mr Quax also promoted equal waste water charges.
Mr Collings said the waste water charges were once part of the Uniform Annual General Charges and making them variable would in effect reduce the annual charge.
Otara Councillor and former National Party list MP Arthur Anae agreed with a user pays system for waste water charges where most people were paying a little more than a dollar a day for running water.
Broadcaster Willie Jackson told the audience of about 200 people it was necessary for the future mayor to have a presence and profile in Wellington to get more resources for the city.
"I agree with everything they're saying about rates and water but the real fight for this community is to get the resources from Wellington."
But Auckland Regional councillor Craig Little rebutted that suggestion.
"Willie has a fetish about getting money out of Wellington, he was there for years and never got a cent."
Those the Herald spoke to said it was good to finally see the candidates together in public but most said that they took little away from the evening.
Darryl Evans of Budgeting and Family Support services in Mangere said the talk of lower rates meant nothing to the 39 per cent of people in the community who lived in some form of deprivation.
"All of them seemed to talk about it but the reality is many of the people I deal with will never be able to afford their own homes let alone put food on the table."