The Invercargill community may well have noticed a change in mayoralty style when deputy Tom Campbell stepped in, and now he’s publicly declaring his intention to stand in 2025.
Mayor Nobby Clark has been back at work since March 11 after his heart surgery, and even walked 6km in the City To Surf the day before he arrived back in his office.
“He has come back buzzing and hit the tracks doing 100mph,” Tom said.
But having some time in the top job has obviously got the deputy thinking, and when contacted, Tom said he thought about standing for Mayor back in 2022, but decided he needed to learn the whole system of local government first.
“I had intended to make a final decision about running in December this year, and the politically wisest thing is not to declare too early. But while acting Mayor, and since, I was being asked the question on a daily basis and I want to be able answer honestly rather than obfuscate,” he said.
He’s pleased to have waited because he intends to hit the ground running in October 2025, with Mayor Clark also voicing his intention not to stand again.
Describing their very different styles, he said Mayor Clark was quite directive, while Tom was about building consensus, “including amongst the public which would require building more effective consultation systems in real time. And listening carefully to feedback.”
The Invercargill City Council needed to stick to its knitting, with no “daft vanity projects,” he added.
“If we have different styles we actually have similar goals.”
The biggest challenge for the next council will be tackling a growing housing crisis in the city.
“We are only building half the houses needed for a growing population, and especially for older people who want to downsize but can’t afford to move home. We need to implement a completely new model for tackling that.”
Tom said wasn’t well understood was how big council is as a business.
“At group level we own assets of $1.5 billion, revenue of $150 million per annum, and including contractors employ about 1000 people. That is on a par with Tiwai in terms of scale. A little bit more or less efficiency can make a major difference, including to rates. So, my own business experience is an important advantage I think.”
So does our Tom have that X-factor to be Mayor and whatsoninvers.nz asked him what he thought that was.
“My Sean Connery accent,” he replied.