Councillor Paula Southgate joins Hamilton mayoralty race

Hamilton city councillor has joined the mayoralty race. Photo / Supplied

Hamilton's mayoralty race is heating up with city councillor Paula Southgate announcing she will contest the position that she narrowly missed out on in the last elections.

Ms Southgate is the fourth of the current council to stand for mayor. The others are current mayor Andrew King, and councillors Angela O'Leary and James Casson. Unlike Ms O'Leary and Mr Casson, Ms Southgate will run only for mayor.

In 2016, Ms Southgate lost out to Mr King in the mayoral elections by nine votes, before a recount knocked that down to six.

She said sometimes voters believe that they won't make a difference, however since the 2016 elections she has received comments from residents that they were sorry for not posting their votes.

"Some people say one vote won't make a difference, but actually it could be the one vote that makes a difference," Ms Southgate said.

"At my recount in 2016, my scrutineer told me that there were four papers where people had put a line through six of the candidates, and left my name blank. I just assumed they thought they were voting for me, but they were discounted and that's fair enough because the system said tick."

Ms Southgate also said that several of the voting papers had received water damage, which could have played a part in the result.

Ms Southgate said she wants to be the a mayor who brings more community involvement into council, saying that the recent public engagement days with the Rototuna community village is something that needs to happen more often.

"I believe we need to be out and about with the community at all times, and delivering structured conversations with them. We need to think about growth properly, and the community plays a large part in that."

"We need to invest into our communities right now. Hillcrest playground is basically the same equipment that my children played on, and my daughter just got married and she is now 27."

Ms Southgate came to Hamilton City Council with over 15 years of local government experience.

The last three years as a city councillor and chair of community, services committee gave her a deeper understanding of the needs of the city.

Her announcement could possibly play a part in vote-splitting, if voter turnout in Hamilton continues on a downwards trend.

Ms O'Leary, Ms Southgate and Mr Casson are strong community minded councillors, which means their voters could be from the same demographic.

While there are only four candidates who have put their hands up so far, there are rumblings that more could soon follow, with the possibility of matching, or passing the number of mayoral candidates in 2016, which was seven.

Mr King was the first to announce his election bid at the start of the year, saying he had unfinished business, while Ms O'Leary announced in February that she would be the first to challenge the current mayor, saying there needs to be more transparent leadership.

Mr Casson followed soon after saying he would like to lead a council that had some fresher and diverse faces.

The 2019 local body elections will be held on October 12. Nominations open on July 19.