With my business acumen, 15 years council experience and awareness of our communities needs I have made a positive impact in my first term as your Mayor. With an emphasis on keeping it local, keeping costs down and ensuring that council is efficient and reflective of the communities it serves, we are heading in the right direction towards having a council that you are proud of.

Leading 69 elected members and strengthening the Community Boards has resulted in a stronger community voice and better decisions. I have taken council out into our communities and we have enjoyed some of our best council meetings in our small town halls. With solid relationships in Wellington, I have been able to secure millions of dollars in funding, and have been an effective voice for Southland.

I am making good headway on our roading funding inequity where I can share our story based on sound logic, knowledge and confidence around the fact that we are clearly getting a raw deal in a broken system that means you are all paying twice for your roads.

I have led Southland’s response to the Waters Reforms with the same approach. Utilising my experience, business sense and understanding of how our communities work, we have submitted a plan that had unanimous support around the council table.

By insisting that we do the right thing by our ratepayers, which sometimes is a harder road, and recognising that we are accountable to them and not to the beehive, led to an overwhelming 97% support from the submitters to our preferred approach. My strong advocacy in Wellington has ensured that Southland’s unique situation is covered in the new legislation and this has been recognised on the national stage. More debt is not the answer!

My proposal to reorganise Local Government in Southland has successfully made it through to the Local Government Commission for investigation, this is the furthest this conversation has gone in 30 years. I am not afraid to transform ideas into action, and have the drive and the passion to make sure that I walk the talk. I look forward to our communities having the final say on how Local Government can best represent them in Southland.

For the Stewart Island Energy Project, I banned the words report and consultant, and this action orientated approach enabled us to secure 15.3 million dollars in funding. I am acutely aware of the affordability challenges out in our communities and I want to ensure that your rates are utilised wisely, and that all appropriate alternative means of funding have been explored and exhausted.

With an environment that is full of change, Southland needs a leader that knows what they are doing and can front foot us through it all. With the full support of my wife Jane and my children Levi and Mia, who are all happy to lend me to Southland for another 3 years, many people have said that Rob’Scott their vote again. Hopefully Rob’Scott yours as well.

Authorised by Rob Scott, [email protected]

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