KEY POINTS:
It is Thursday in Mt Eden village and former mayor John Banks is canvassing for votes in the middle-class suburb where Dick Hubbard trounced him three years ago.
One minute, the rain is falling. The next minute, the winter sun is shining through the clouds behind the shadow
of Maungawhau.
John Banks is wrapped in a raincoat and limping slightly from a knee operation six weeks ago. Years of running have taken their toll but the 60-year-old vows he will limp to the line if that is what it takes to win back the mayoralty.
Over an hour, the seasoned politician will ply the old-fashioned electioneering skills honed since first standing for National in the Labour stronghold of Roskill in 1978.
The goal today? To meet as many people as possible and deliver 125 pamphlets tucked in the pockets of that raincoat.
"Hello, I'm John Banks and I'd like to be the next mayor of Auckland City," he tells a perplexed young woman in a fish shop.
It's hard engaging with young people, he explains, before moving on to a bakery where the assistant has a bitch about noisy trucks thundering down winding Mt Eden Rd and graffiti on an Edwardian building across the road. This is more like it.
The next stop is the Mt Eden Red Cross shop where volunteer and pensioner Paulette Melbye wants to know if he will keep putting up the rates.
Mr Banks says he increased rates by no more than the rate of inflation, unlike the current council which has put up rates by 33 per cent and water bills by 18 per cent in 10 months.
What he does not tell the three volunteers at the op shop is that while he kept overall rates below 3 per cent a year, other factors led household rates to sneak up 15.6 per cent during his term.
Politicians thrive on comparing apples with oranges when it suits, and Mr Banks cannot help but put the best spin on his rates record up against the worst spin on Mr Hubbard's rates record.
In a split second he can also read a hostile voter. And there are one or two at the Hospice Shop. "Who's this? John Banks," says one woman, who turns out to be a staunch supporter of the current deputy mayor, Bruce Hucker.
Another woman reminds Mr Banks how he brought in Bill Birch to slash costs and the subsequent cutbacks to mowing grass berms.
The conversation moves on to the sale of the council's airport shares. It's not so much a question, but a message: "Don't sell the family jewels."
Mr Banks is upfront. Yes, he sold half the shares last time, but only after making a promise on the doorsteps in 2001 to make the council debt-free. Outside on the footpath, another prospective voter has the same message about the airport shares.
"If the people of Auckland don't want to sell the airport shares, I will not sell the airport shares," Mr Banks says.
Most days, John Banks goes canvassing. It might be a trip to the Mt Roskill shops or a taxi stand. Door knocking is best on Saturday mornings. A walk down one residential street, off Mt Eden Rd, brings no reward so it's back to the village.
Butcher Ron Ross, whose family business has been in Mt Eden for 54 years, is curious about the "little bit milder" politician but reckons John Banks is going to do well.
After telling several people "you have made my day", it's this comment from the butcher that really makes his day. That's because butchers, like taxi drivers and hairdressers, are like disciples who spread the message.
Packing a lot into his day
While John Banks was out kissing babies, the man whose job he wants was hard at work in the office. Here's Dick Hubbard's diary for Thursday:
7.30am: Replying to correspondence.
8.30am: Meeting with council chief executive David Rankin.
10am: Urban strategy and governance committee meeting.
11am: Replying to correspondence.
Noon: Media interviews.
12.30pm: Attend Auckland District Health Board meeting.
3pm: Private meeting.
5.30pm: Function to thank retiring members of council-owned organisations.
7pm: Function at Auckland Motorcycle Club.
