The people being shoulder tapped by Deputy Mayor Nobby Clark to put forward their name for council as part of a ‘ticket,’ are all relatively well known in the Invercargill community.
Nobby confirmed those he had approached were all leaders in their own right, whether it be on the sports field, in the social services industry or in management positions.
“I want people who know what achievement is about, but who have independent minds.”
The ticket would be officially announced in the next week and a half and would also have a name, he said.
Nobby was recently approached by a group of backers around standing for Mayor, and now they are interested in recruiting new campaigners who are keen to join together – but stand individually for council.
“They are not people that like Nobby or that Nobby likes,” he said, but a group with a common vision for the future of Invercargill.
Most will be new council candidates, although current councillor Allan Arnold confirmed he too was part of the group, and he had helped around recruitment.
Nobby said it was no different really, to the Invercargill City Council or Local Government New Zealand pushing their own campaigns encouraging people to apply.
His group was just building on that, and surprisingly only one of the people he has approached so far had actually considered standing for council.
The council was looking to spend $200 million next year on projects, and he said it was vitally important they had the right team around the table at meetings.
There are potentially four out of 12 vacancies on council this coming election, with Nobby and Ian Pottinger standing for Mayor only, and Lindsay Abbot not returning because of health issues.
“We need to have some new blood, so I thought, ‘here’s an opportunity of people that might be a bit more skilled in the work around council,” Nobby said.
