Capital Times talks with mayoral hopefuls in the lead up to the Wellington City Council elections in early October.

MAYOR Kerry Prendergast loves her job.
It’s not hard to tell why, as we are served bottles of NZ spring water on a silver platter in the palatial office.
“It’s a fantastic job, I met David Beckham, and Nelson Mandela – that was pretty special – and Princess Anne once used my office and bathroom... I’m not a Republican and I see the Royal Family as a head of state for New Zealand,” Prendergast says.
The room is Wellington’s Oval Office. It’s decorated with ornate gifts from around the world, including our Chinese sister-cities, and enough room to keep Prendergast comfortable during her 80 hour working week.
Mayor of Wellington since 2001, and with a new grandchild, Prendergast had reservations about running for a fourth term, but she says a broad cross-section of people, including the ethnic community and political parties, pressured her to run.
Prendergast takes after her father, and says the pressures of the job are worth it.
“My Dad was very driven too, and was always involved in the community; that was ‘what you do’. He was a civil engineer, a Tawa Borough Councillor, and the deputy mayor at Kapiti.”
She admits she’s a Tawa girl at heart, and you don’t get more Tawa than delivering Ginette McDonald’s baby.
“It was an interesting relationship, because I was a midwife in Tawa, looking after Lyn of Tawa,” Pendergast laughs.
Her political start came at the Tawa Borough Council, before she was elected to the Wellington City Council in 1989.
Asked why she has been described by some councillors as “dismissive”, she replies, “I don’t think it’s fair to ask if I’m impatient and dismissive, because two out of 14 councillors use those [terms].”
She would prefer the council to debate issues, and not make personal attacks.
“One thing I’ve learnt in this job is that I’m only one vote, I can’t achieve anything without relationships built on trust and respect,” she says.
Prendergast says other city councillors are capable of running the city, but under her watch the city is “on a roll”.
“I’m taking the city in the direction my supporters think it should go. I’ve yet to hear feedback that the direction is wrong. We have the best quality of life in NZ, we are working on climate change, and we are the arts and culture capital.”
Her guiding hand helped instigate the “Creative Capital” brand, and more recently she has supported an apartment building boom.
“The city has got 12,000 people living here, and is as dense as some European cities,” she says.
However, criticism has been made of her “big spending” policies to encourage population and economic growth in the city, especially of the council’s $200 million budget deficit.
Just last week Prendergast officially reopened Cobblestone Park in central Wellington after its controversial million-dollar makeover, which she defends.
“People need green spaces. The park was tired, not well used, and frequented by people trashing it with graffiti. Now the basketball court is so popular we have to turn the lights off at night to stop people playing there,” she says.
However, despite the population growth, public space has been taken away, with Manners Mall being dug up for a bus lane.
Prendergast won’t commit to creating more pedestrian space beyond the “shared zone” of Lower Cuba Street, which will have car access at limited speeds.
“We are giving them shared space [on Lower Cuba Street]. In the US [many pedestrian malls] have been turned back into shared spaces, because retail dies in malls and they become full of $2 shops,” she insists.
Prendergast rejects the notion that removing Manners Mall will leave a taint on her mayoral reign.
“I’m passionate about having the public transport spine on the Golden Mile.”
She says healthy retail needs a transport thoroughfare, and currently 75% of people use Manners Mall as a shortcut, and not for shopping.
Public transport is not reliable at the moment, she says, and people are demanding better service.
Prendergast doesn’t just take issue with travel times.
“[Does Manners Mall] have good, high quality shops like you see on Lambton Quay? You have a McDonalds, a Turkish shop, Banks shoes. It’s not high end fashion – I’m just giving you the stats.”
In preparation for the October election, Prendergast has been following the tightly fought Australian election, and is disappointed no “real issues” have come to the fore.
“They just follow what [Julia Gillard] is wearing, and how big her earrings are,” she says
As for Wellington’s mayor getting the “celebrity” treatment…
 “People email me saying they don’t like what I was wearing on TV, and why don’t I change my lipstick – they don’t do that to men,” she laughs.
Jamie Melbourne-Hayward

What car do you drive?       
Audi A3.
What is your favourite and least favourite Wellington something?           
Favourite: waterfront. Least: the wind which we cannot change!
What is one issue in the past three years that has made you angry?        
Those who confuse people and their message, taking their anger out on the person rather than the issue that person believes in.
What needs the most attention in Wellington, public transport or waterfront?
Transport. We need a fast, efficient, reliable, and affordable system, including a rapid transport system from the airport and hospital to the railway station.
If you were a dictator what first thing would you implement in Wellington?        
Fast broadband to every house, school and business.
What was your worst/best subject at college?   
Worst: French. Best: Science, Maths.
What is your biggest weakness?
A nice glass of an Otago Pinot Noir with an avocado sandwich followed by some dark chocolate.
In six words describe your talents.
Principled, pragmatic, hard working, confident, humorous.
If you were an animal what would you be?       
A dolphin. Smart, fast thinking, strong, free.