By NAOMI LARKIN
The widow of controversial Auckland City councillor Phil Raffills is considering standing for the seat left vacant by his death.
Noelene Raffills said that if she ran for the byelection she would seek the nomination on the Citizens and Ratepayers ticket. However, she had made no firm decision about whether to stand.
Mrs Raffills said Auckland Mayor Christine Fletcher had telephoned her and asked, "Was it an option?"
"I said, 'Yes, it has definitely been an option in my thinking'."
Mrs Fletcher she had spoken to the 51-year-old this week about standing for the Avondale-Roskill byelection on November 11.
"If she is prepared to stand then she enjoys my entire support. She has all the qualities she had in partnership with her husband. I believe she has something special to offer council over the next year."
But the possibility has not pleased members of the gay community who fought a bitter battle with Mr Raffills because of his outspoken anti-Hero Parade views.
Hero Trust founder Rex Halliday said yesterday that he did not know Mrs Raffills but her possible election bid would be a concern if she shared her husband's anti-gay stance. Mr Raffills died on August 10, aged 54, after a year-long battle with leukaemia.
The council decided at a meeting last week to hold a postal byelection to decide his replacement.
As a councillor Mr Raffills, a devout Christian and family man, opposed the Hero parade. In 1998, he said he was "absolutely disgusted" with then Prime Minister Jenny Shipley's intention to attend "the parade of homosexuals."
Mrs Raffills, an administrator for Parenting With Confidence, said she shared her husband's stand on moral issues. However, as the council had already voted on the Hero issue "it isn't anything to be considered at the moment."
In August, the council voted to give $30,000 towards the gay extravaganza to be held on Ponsonby Rd next February.
Nominations for the byelection open on Friday, September 1, and close on September 29. Voting papers will go out to the 54,000 electors on October 27 and must be returned by November 11.
* Mrs Fletcher is today due to launch the Circle of Friends trust which is planning a memorial to the victims of Aids to be built in Western Springs Reserve.
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