What are the city's councillors offering? Let's take a look
Who are the regular contributors to council discussions? Who are the quieter councillors? What are certain councillors particularly vocal about?
Invercargill is in its second year with the current group of Invercargill City Councillors at the helm. Logan Savory takes a look at what each of the 13 elected members, from his observations, have offered up to date.
Steve Broad
Broad - at this point - is the quietest around the council table, in terms of raising questions and providing opinions on various topics at public meetings.
Tom Campbell, when chairing a recent meeting, took the unusual approach of actually asking Broad to provide his thoughts on the Donavan Park Masterplan.
Although it should be pointed out Broad is the newest councillor. He has only been in the role since August after winning a by-election to replace Nigel Skelt at the council table.
He is well-connected in the community and probably does help provide the council with a stronger link to the younger section of the community.
Barry Stewart
Stewart is another first-term councillor who initially did not have a lot to say, although he has started to become more vocal on certain subjects.
He openly admitted at a council public meeting that he does not believe in climate change, and he has been particularly passionate with his angst around the use of the Te Reo Māori.
At the council’s most recent meeting, Stewart declared he was going to “object every time if Māori names were first on everything?”
At a meeting last year, on the topic of council building names, Stewart said: “I’m quite happy with an English name at the top and a Māori name at the bottom but quite frankly that’s just about it where I’ll stand.”
Stewart stood for council in 2022 as part of the Let’s Go Invercargill ticket.
Alan Arnold
Alan Arnold was one of the key drivers behind the Let’s Go Invercargill ticket and was elected in 2022 for his third term as a councillor.
He has been vocal on certain matters - in particular his opposition to the council’s policy to lower speed limits.
Arnold has also regularly questioned staff on the state of the roadside plantings and what was being done to tidy up the city.
Lesley Soper
Soper is one of the more experienced, politically, at the council table considering her time in central Government before joining the Invercargill City Council.
Soper was a Labour Party MP in central Government.
She was one of few councillors who voiced support for the previous Government’s Three Waters reform and has also been strong in her quest for the council to form a stronger relationship with Māori.
Soper puts her hand up to take on responsibilities outside her core council duties, which included work around the regional climate change strategy.
Ria Bond
Bond is another who has joined the council following a political background in central Government.
Bond - who is in her first term on council - previously was a New Zealand First list-MP at Parliament.
She has been a regular contributor to discussions around the council table.
Bond sparked national headlines months into her time as a councillor when she declared she would not remain on council if Nigel Skelt did.
It followed Skelt leaving his job as Stadium Southland manager following an employment matter.
Soon after Bond’s public comments Skelt resigned from council.
Trish Boyle
First-term councillor Trish Boyle seems to have settled into the role comfortably.
Boyle appears to be well-connected in the community and that has helped when offering up suggestions on certain matters. During council discussions, Boyle has been a regular advocate for youth which stems from her background working in the education sector.
Grant Dermody
There’s been no honeymoon-type period for Dermody as a councillor given the key roles he has been offered and agreed to in his first term.
Dermody - who ran for council as part of the Let’s Go Invercargill ticket - is the chair of the council’s finance and projects committee.
He also replaced Nigel Skelt as the council lead on the Project 1225 museum build.
Dermody is a regular contributor around the council table, both in terms of offering up his thoughts and questioning staff on certain matters.
He has been particularly vocal about his belief the region needed to have a focus on economic development to ensure the council can pay for “all the stuff we are racking up”.
Darren Ludlow
Ludlow is the most experienced councillor given he was first elected to council in 1998.
That experience has at times been important, in terms of his historical knowledge of council matters, knowledge of correct processes, and his obvious ability to chair a meeting - something that probably looks easier than it is.
Ludlow is the chair of the community wellbeing committee.
It’s hard to think of a particular topic Ludlow has been extra passionate and vocal on this term.
Ian Pottinger
Pottinger sits behind Ludlow as the second most experienced elected member at the council with Pottinger now in his sixth term as a councillor.
He has shown he is prepared to question staff reports put to the council.
Pottinger is chair of the infrastructure committee and has been particularly vocal this term about the need for the region to sort out its waste situation.
He regularly asked why waste levels were increasing and what was being done to reduce that, and in turn, reduce the cost to council.
Pottinger also expressed angst about the region losing a planned oat milk factory. It prompted him to ask the regional development agency Great South to front the council for a please explain.
Alex Crackett
While Crackett is still young, in comparison to her council colleagues, Crackett has now been a councillor since 2016 and is not afraid to have her say on matters.
Crackett is co-chair of the national Young Elected Members Network. She has been a vocal advocate for the need to have more younger representation at councils throughout the country - including in Southland.
She has spoken up about the need to try to remove barriers that may restrict younger people from putting their names forward to join local body politics.
Peter Kett
Peter Kett was re-elected onto council following a controversial advertising campaign which caused some angst with fellow council colleagues.
Despite being on council last terms, and relatively quiet around the council table, Kett said in that advertising there had been “reckless spending”. He also questioned the “alarmingly high number” of council staff leaving, and wanted mana whenua seats at the council abolished.
This term Kett again isn’t necessarily a regular contributor to discussions, although when he does speak it comes with a bit of passion.
That included at a council meeting last year when he said he did not believe the council was “getting bang for its buck” through its funding of regional development agency Great South.
It followed the news that a planned oat milk factory for the region was instead heading to Canterbury.
This term Kett has also publicly apologised following comments he made when denying there was a problem with sexism at the council.
He had earlier said that females who were given nicknames relating to their appearance should “probably take them as a compliment”.
Tom Campbell
Campbell hasn’t taken a quiet approach to his introduction to local body politics.
The former Tiwai Point smelter general manager was appointed by Nobby Clark as deputy mayor in what is his first term on council.
He now finds himself as acting mayor with Clark absent recovering from heart surgery.
Campbell has also put his hand up to take on various other roles, including around housing and climate change.
Campbell hasn’t been afraid to question staff on various matters. He has publicly declared a desire to find compromise on various contentious issues and that has been highlighted in some of the public discussions.
Nobby Clark
It wasn’t a surprise that Clark started in the role of mayor as a very hands-on leader.
He got himself involved in a lot of different matters and regularly questioned what council staff was doing and the advice they had provided.
Clark’s key quest is to get the museum built, and at the same time, he has pushed hard to find savings and other revenue opportunities, to help keep rates down.
The Mayor’s tension with Māori leaders has been public, with Clark acknowledging that tension.
Clark opposed co-governance, questioned some of the use of Te Reo on buildings, and suggested the previous Government pandered to its Māori caucus.
When Clark does return, he has admitted he will need to try to reduce the potential stress of the job and that means not immersing himself as much as he has in the role to date.
Great reporting, and exactly why I’m happy to be a paying subscriber!
This by and large confirms that my votes in the election were the correct ones.