The fight for mayor in Invercargill will be between four candidates, with longstanding incumbent Sir Tim Shadbolt, current deputy mayor Rebecca Amundsen, former deputy mayor and current councillor Darren Ludlow and teacher and businessman Steve Chernishov all vying for the top position next month. 

The Southland App spoke to each of the candidates and found out why each believed they'd be best to fill the position.

Sir Tim Shadbolt

Sir Tim Shadbolt still believes he is the best person to lead Invercargill, saying he is still working at 110% for the city.

Shadbolt has been mayor since 1998, and previously served two years as mayor between 1993 and 1995, meaning he has held the position for close to a quarter of a century. 

And with three challengers vying for his position, Shadbolt said his record speaks for itself when it comes to the role.

He said his key achievements included attracting domestic and international students to SIT, helping bring direct flights from Auckland to Invercargill and supporting the CBD upgrade in the city, adding he also worked heavily on other projects in the community.

"My crammed diary and engagements reflect my work ethic. I am not the type of leader or candidate who posts everything they do on Facebook. Most of my work is done behind the scenes. I truly care about people."

The key issues he was standing on included protecting the workers at Southland disAbility Enterprises through the current recycling tender debate, the fair allocation of transmission costs for Tiwai and addressing the city’s housing shortage.

Shadbolt said his opponents for the position, deputy mayor Rebecca Amundsen, councillor Darren Ludlow and teacher Steve Chernishov offered "nothing significantly different" for voters.

"I would recommend that voters are wary of the concept of ‘change for change's sake’ as it can be a destructive mantra that isn’t reflective of skill or ability."

He also said he had no plans to retire anytime soon.

"I will retire when I feel I am no longer making a difference or the majority of residents/ratepayers stop voting for me, not when certain people who have had a taste of power decide they want it all. Smear campaigns reflect the personal characteristics of those who perpetuate them," he said.

"I will always put Invercargill first. I ask voters to carefully consider the attributes of each candidate and vote for councillors who will, positively, support me to lead the city."

Rebecca Amundsen

For Rebecca Amundsen, the opportunity to run for mayor may have been written in the stars for quite some time.

The current deputy mayor of Invercargill said it was a longtime ambition of hers to make a tilt for the top position, a fact she was reminded of when she was first elected to council back in 2013.

"When I first got elected I got a card from my former English teacher and she said to me I remember dropping you home from school one day and you said to me you wanted to be the first woman mayor of Wanganui," she said. "The mayor that we had, Chas Pointer, had been the mayor for a long time... and for some strange reason I thought I could do a better job than him at 16. So the reality is it has kind of been an aspiration for a really long time."

Amundsen was appointed deputy in 2017 and said now felt like the right time to put her hat in the ring for the top position.

She and her husband moved to Invercargill in 2001 to take advantage of the SIT zero fees scheme, and have relished the opportunities living in the city have presented them.

She said she believed in giving back to the community and said he had taken every opportunity she could over the years. And, she said, now was the perfect time for a change of leadership on the council.

"I think that having a change in leadership on a secular kind of basis is a good thing because people bring all different strengths to all sorts of roles and that kind of thing. But for me it's about my aspirations to give back and to be a good leader in the community than it is about what anybody else may or may not have to offer."

And with so much change happening in Invercargill over the coming years, she said it was important to have a mayor who had "their eye on the ball" as well as somebody with "energy and knowledge" who can make sure the changes are done successfully.

"We need somebody who can bring the council together and make sure we're all moving in the same direction, even if we have a diverse range of opinions or points of view on different topics."

One of the key platforms she is standing on is an increase in use of technology by the council to help further inform residents of what is happening.

She said one example would be to introduce a similar app that numerous councils across New Zealand had started using called Antenno, which helped provide people updates on everything from rubbish collection changes to being able to report issues in their street.

Live streaming of council meetings was also another aspect she wished to introduce, as well as better communication through social media platforms.

"I think our council is way behind the mark on how we use technology and a range of things... there's so many ways now that we can take advantage of technology to communicate with people and we should be making the most of those things."

Other issues she believes are important during the election include transparency with governance, housing and retaining people in the city.

If elected as mayor, Amundsen would become only the second female mayor of Invercargill after Eve Poole served in the role between 1983 and 1992. She said it would go to show the continued strength from women in the region in key roles.

"We have a lot of women in really good positions and I think that says a lot about Invercargill."

Darren Ludlow

After 21 years on council, Darren Ludlow believes now is the perfect time to run for mayor and bring much needed change leadership in Invercargill.

The former deputy mayor weighed up the possibility of standing for the top job since stepping down as deputy in 2017, and said he finally decided to run for mayor after discussing it with his family earlier this year.

Ludlow was first elected in 1998, and said that the combination of receiving high polling at each election since as well as no longer being deputy to current Mayor Tim Shadbolt also helped with his final decision to run.

"I’d said to Tim that I would never stand against him if I was his deputy. I'm not encumbered by that now and I also think it's time for a change."

Creating a city "where families find it easier to live" was a priority for Ludlow, as well as attracting and retaining people to the city and helping with business expansion and creating more jobs. 

"If you've got an increasing workforce and a more stable workforce that encourages business development and expansion then you've got more jobs. More jobs, more people. If we are aiming for ten thousand more people from the SORDS initiative then this is how we've got to do it."

He said he also wanted to ensure focus remained on current big developments for the city such as the inner city block and the museum, and not taking on any other projects that could distract from them.

"We don't really need to be taking on anything else in the meantime. It's time for us to pause and make sure that we're going to be doing everything right and we do it well, and then when that's well underway and we're confident then we can start looking. So it's time to just take a breath and cope with what we've got."

Ludlow said he believed the council was currently "fractured" and that new leadership was one step that could be taken in order to fix it.

He said a key role in the current state of the council was due to the divide over the WasteNet tender issue.

"It’s very complex. If leadership doesn’t change, the situation isn't going to change. But if the leadership does change, that's not going to make it easy. It's a hard fix. I've been part of council when it’s fractured before. This is worse."

With three challenges to Shadbolt this year, Ludlow believed this election served as the "most credible challenge" that the mayor has ever had.

He believes that whoever is successful in unseating Shadbolt will have a big job ahead of them and that the position of mayor is far bigger than one person.

"It's not about Tim Shadbolt. It's about the mayor of Invercargill who is a representative of the council and the people. Tim will always be Tim. He was Tim before he was mayor of Invercargill...I'm not kidding myself. It's a big mountain to climb taking on Tim, but I still firmly believe I'm the best person to climb it successfully."

Steve Chernishov

Stephen Chernishov believes his vast experience across a variety of different fields will help bring a different change to the position of mayor in Invercargill.

The digital tech and materials design teacher said he believed it his purpose in life to "help design systems and ways forward for people" which led him to running for mayor for the first time.

"It has always been my heart's desire to see people living in peace without extreme pressures from their surrounding world... I want to see the Council moving beyond providing just basic facilities and managing people to believing in the people, empowering them and providing the resources that they need to live their true identity in freedom, with significance, feeling the love, belonging and having fun."

Chernishov said change was needed in the city "so Southlanders can more easily develop the lives they want".

He said an alternative focus was needed in the south and that a shift was needed from local government to achieve this, something he believed he was capable of doing.

"I am an activator who can action plans and make things happen. I am upbeat and share contagious enthusiasm to get people excited about what really matters [and] I am focused and fully able to take a direction, follow through and make the corrections to stay on track."

Some of the key issues he was standing for included improving community education, developing ways to "solve the housing crisis" as well as developing waste management strategies and bringing more events and attractions to the city.

"Invercargill will become the most fun and exciting place in New Zealand to go out with a dynamic vibe that is established by locals," he said.

He said he would also work on making it easier for people in the city who were attempting to start up their own business.

"We have a lot of people who are interested in finding alternative ways forward in their lives, including starting up new services in the city. However, many us are tired of living under the laws, constantly wondering if we are going to be fined or told that we have not considered all of the legal requirements involved in creating our ideas. Sometimes the rules get so overwhelming that motivated people question whether they really want to expend the energy and funds while trying to get all their ducks in a row."

Chernishov said his overall vision was to empower people and to build a growing, vibrant community which involves people from all walks of life.