New Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon. Photo: LDR
Selwyn's new mayor is promising the next rate rise will be a single digit.
Lydia Gliddon will lead an almost entirely new council in New Zealand fastest growing district, a daunting prospect but one she is adamant she is up for.
"There are challenges, but what an opportunity.
"I've asked for this and now it's time to pivot to let's start delivering."
Gliddon defeated three-term incumbent Sam Broughton by 13,500 votes.
Broughton had come under fire as ratepayers faced repeated double-digit rate rises.
"Our community said they want change, that's exactly what they have got, and now we need to deliver on that," Gliddon said.
"You can look it as pressure, but you can flip that on its head and say I have the backing of the community."
Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon. Photo: LDR
The change was inevitable with seven councillors retiring, but the change in leadership is a fork in the road for the district.
Gliddon knows she is a first-term mayor, with one council term under her belt, leading a fresh council.
One that has lost over 100-years combined experience - with seven councillors retiring - and now has only 12-years, half of that coming from now third-term councillor Sophie McInnes.
"A lot of that experience that was around our council table hasn't just walked away from me."
Having that support from former councilors, Gliddon said she has their experience to call on "in mentor roles as a good sounding board with all the intellectual property they hold".
The inexperience around the table will also present a conundrum for picking a deputy, something she is yet to consider.
The council won't grind to a halt with the new-look council, with Gliddon planning an effective induction process "to set councillors up for success".
"Sometimes you have to go a bit slower at the start so you can go faster at the other end."
Selwyn's election campaign was divisive, and at times was toxic, with candidates trading jibes and personal attacks.
Gliddon's message is clear that all "stays in the election space and does not come into the council building at all".
"It will not be tolerated.
"We now need to form a team. The community has chosen the people they want to represent them, so that all needs to be left behind.
"We all need to work together."
She's also aware of allegations that candidates were in cahoots during the campaign but has no concerns about any block voting.
"Maybe through the election space I could have seen some of that, but I'm optimistic everyone is here for the best of the community.
"We have to have the best outcome for the community in mind, not towing some line of an agenda."
Gliddon said she wants to deliver a single digit rate rise in the next annual plan, with a thorough line-by-line budget process to achieve it, which will also benefit the new councillors around how the council business operates and where the money is going.
She wants to "identify the non-negotiables" - the core services like roading and water, and find where efficiencies can be made, spending deferred or "is just a no".
Improving transparency is another priority, wanting to provide the community with simple and easy to understand information about where their rates are going she said.
There are cost effective measures for public consultation Gliddon is keen to explore.
Transparency goes hand in hand with engagement she said, and while only 47% of the voting public chose to engage in the elections, it was the highest in the last four elections.
Gliddon is also well aware that if the new council can't deliver on its promises of lower rates rises and greater transparency, the community has shown a willingness to vote for change come the next election.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
