Peter Moloney views the Mayoral Candidate Meetings

Kerry Prendergast still looks favourite to retain her position after the first three [mayoral] candidate meetings.
So far the things that stand out for me are, Prendergast’s assuredness despite public criticisms, Bryan Pepperell’s pledge to “support the majority, protect the minority, and share the benefits”, Jack Yan’s desire to webcast council meetings, despite Aro Valley crowds shouting “boring” at the suggestion, Bernard O Shaughnessy’s silly hand made signs, Al Mansell’s absurd claims including that the police are “afraid of people like him”, Celia Wade-Brown’s constant push for light rail.
Prendergast has regularly cited her experience, and regularly refers to her contacts “at the very top of New Zealand government” to “ensure that Wellington gets its share,” including getting Wellington to the top of the line for broadband.
She wants to make Wellington a vibrant city that will attract a skilled workforce, however Ngaio crowds criticised her China trip, while Aro streets main criticism was the number of car parks in the city, and Manners Mall.
Pepperell is being consistent. He is strongly pushing the message of making Wellington a city that lives within its means, as well as pushing anti- water privatisation.
He feels that light rail is a fantastic idea but at “$22million a metre” is too expensive in the short term.  He also wants to bring traffic enforcement back under full council control.
Yan has been humorous at all meetings and asked Ngaio crowds ‘ why get a mayor who goes to China when you can have the real deal”.
He says Wellington needs a creative leader, and cites his work with the design industry. He says his desire to make Wellington a free wi-fi city is not a gimmick for young voters, but an effort to attract business to the city.
Celia Wade-Brown has been unswerving with her campiagn, which has focused on pushing light rail, and improving public transport.
Her very visible contribution of a plant to the Te Aro community centre couldn’t have gone unmissed by the audience.
O’ Shaughnessy has received as much attention for his extravagancies as his passion.
His main goals are to bring ‘parkwise’ back under council control, to avoid a supercity, and to prevent the privatisation of water, and if elected he will seek to reverse the decision to make Manners Mall a bus corridor.
Mansell has been largely contradictory so far.
At Ngaio he maintained that he’s “not all about drugs” but looked bored and did not contribute during the following hour-long Q&A session, when he could have explained what his policies actually are, while on stage at Aro Valley he claimed to have “gotten drunk at the Te Aro Park less than 15 minutes ago”.