Local Focus: Mercia-Dawn Yates on Candidate Camera

Watch the full Local Focus interview for Yates' views on the region's biggest issues, and our less important quickfire questions

Education is the big issue for Mercia-Dawn Yates who is hoping to keep her seat as a Rotorua general ward councillor.

"Education is the foundation," she said.

"If we can get our communities involved and understand more about the importance of going to school - after Covid and two years of truancy – we need to find solutions to get our kids back into school."

When asked about co-governance, Yates said she was a partnership person and preferred it to the term "co-governance".

"We've got enough examples around us to demonstrate what good partnership looks like especially within council," she said.

On Three Waters, Yates was in general agreement – "if our water is healthy, our people are healthy" – but the obligations being "forced onto councils" was not right.

On homelessness and emergency housing, Yates said there was a lot of work still to be done in that space.

"I'd prefer our own to be sorted first."

Yates said she has been a public servant and a servant of the public for 30 years and being a councillor is the natural extension of that.

Other candidates chose to not be interviewed by Local Focus.

Another mayoral candidate chose to not be interviewed by Local Focus.