Kia Ora Tanja and thank you for taking the time to ask your questions.

I was also a single mother and I know what it is like to live on very little money.

Unfortunately we are living in very difficult economic times and it is important that we stay healthy, both mentally and physically. My vision of low cost public transport will help everyone to be more involved in their communities and I hope to create positive feedback loops so that our environments become a source of pride as well as activity for people.

My last community role was as Chairperson of our local school board. Here in Avondale I live and work with people from all over the world.

Please visit my website for more information.

warm regards

Marlene

Tanja,

There are two reasons I stood for Mayor.The first is that unless Auckland\'s problems start getting fixed, Auckland is going backwards.   Oh yes people talk about how great Auckland is.  But that doesn\'t help the 30,000 just in Waitakere that their City Plan says are in the lowest 20% of poverty classification.   What they need is jobs.   And if you listen to the front runners, they say they want more jobs too.  But they have no policy to make a difference.  I have detailed what the Transport CCO needs to fix congestion within three years.  Not make a little dent, but fix it.  Because if we can do this we can save the equivalent of the $2 billion that congestion costs the community every year.   This would cut travelling times in half.  Increase deliveries by 33%.  Increased productivity would occur right across Auckland.  The net effect is that there would be more profit.  Firms would employ more.  Wages would start rising.  Because that\'s the effect of more productivity.

If Auckland had more jobs, firms would be racing to get more staff.  We would have a different situation, a very different situation.  

The other reason for standing is to be able to influence what the Local Boards do.  The idea of the Local Boards is the best thing about this new super City.  If the Board members spend their time consulting their residents, we would have a very different lot of communities across Auckland.  For too long residents have had very little chance of changing their communities.  The only thing they could do was to object to what the Council wanted to do.  These Local Boards can change this right around IF they consult the residents.   I believe that the residents have all the knowledge needed to make their community great.  If they make it great for them, it will be great for every one.  I\'m an architect and if I design a house for a family I ask them to dream about what they would really like.  If I get them to forget costs and budgets for a while (that\'s my job) I find they come up with great ideas that usually can be incorporated into the design by making those activities possible.   I believe that Aucklanders will start doing this IF they are asked to give their ideas, suggestions and needs so the Local Boards can turn them into practical policies and projects.   This can be the making of Auckland.  The biggest resource are the residents.  They know the area.  They use the area.  The housewife, the labourer, the scientist the High Court Judge, they are the community.   I believe they can do the job better than any Planning committee.   

If I am Mayor that will be the other priority, and it will take a lot of effort because up to now its all been top down.  Many of the people who will get elected are trained in top down.  I want to get independent listeners.  I noticed that Orakei has an architect standing.  I don\'t know him but he has the skills to take residents hesitant ideas and make them into something great with design flair and that\'s what I would like to encourage.

I can fix Auckland\'s biggest problem congestion and keep it contained for 25 years  see www.chapmanformayor.co.nz   I have said I will start the rejuvenation of Manukau Harbour to give Auckland  jobs and a fabulous place for an Auckland Square, with an International Rowing Course -for kayaks and Wakas as well, a \'Riviera\' of apartments, shops, hotels and Marinas to remake Otahuhu and Mangere and to make the project virtually self funding.  And I want the new super City to be remade  with the Local Boards energising the residents.

I am talking three years.  With new fast passenger transport across Auckland within 10 years.  That\'s a big ask.  But it can be done.

Your question is a difficult one to answer because its really difficult to answer discrimination, lies, dishonesty and fear.   What I would like to do is make the new Auckland a place where we can do the things we want to, have a thriving economy so we have a better chance to get the job we would like and we have an Auckland that is fun and easy to get around, anytime.  My dream for Auckland in three years time is that it becomes a \"Can do.  Will do. Lets go.\' place.  That\'s something worth striving for.  If this comes close to what you are looking for I\'d like your vote.  I believe we can do it. And in three years.

Hugh Chapman

hi Tanja,

My vision for Auckland is that it be seen as the success story of the South Pacific - a shining light showing others how a good a city can be.

In the mind of New Zealanders it will be the city of choice as a place to work and live and in the mind of tourists - the premier holiday destination.

We can achieve this by making quality decisions that deliver long term results and co-operating with citizens instead of simply telling them what to do. We need to build a consensus for Auckland to make the most of the opportunities it has.

We need to have a Super City council that is Lean, Local and Fair.

Lean (A place we can afford), Local (A place we have real input into) and Fair (Transparent, co-operatively solving problems like Leaky Homes).

Most candidates will promise they will protect your unique local identity, the question is, which candidates are willing to give real power back to local boards and support them even when decisions might not be those the Mayor himself would have made?

Consistent with my policy of “Keep it local”, I see the central council providing the planning framework but with local boards filling in the detail.

The upcoming local election provides Aucklanders with the opportunity to take a different approach to a number of issues for the benefit of everyone involved, like the Leaky Homes Crisis.

It’s time for a change. Aucklanders need to take the lead on this issue and pursue a co-operative solution instead of the litigious one adapted by existing mayors.

Working together reduces cost and gets home repaired faster. This co- operative approach is the sort of council I am promoting.

If you want a Mayor who will protect your local identity, who will make sure voters are listened to, who will make sure you’re informed about where your rates are spent and a Mayor who will make rational, sensible decisions with your input, then vote me for Mayor. I’m for people, not politics.

Colin 

Hi Tanja

First of all I\'m going to be so upfront it\'s ridiculous. The only thing I can guarantee you 100 per cent is that if I am voted in I will give either half my salary to a charity of the voters\' choice or I\'ll put it towards a street party. The decision will be made by Auckland voters. There are other policies on our face book site. Please feel free to check it out. They\'re under the discussion panels. I know this answer isn\'t what you\'re looking for but I feel it is probably one of the few promises made during this election campaign that can be delivered. Who ever wins the mayoralty can say what ever they want this side of the election but they\'re not in office yet so won\'t be privy to the information and regulations being put into place behind the scenes. Nobody know what they\'re walking into. So as such my election promises are limited. If I do get in I will have to listen to council officers and take on the views of councillors and the public to make decisions that best represent what Auckland wants as a whole.

Thanks for your time and I hope you have a good rest of the week. Check out Facebook site Shannon Gillies for Auckland SuperCity Mayor. Just go to the discussion panel and the other policies are there.

Regards,

Shannon Gillies

well tANYA YOU NEDD TO VOTE FOR THE BEST CANDIDATES THAT WILL DO THE BEST FOR COMMUNITY AND YOUR REGION , READ THE CANDIDATE PROFILES AND CHOOSE THE BEST ONES, BEWARE THOUGH SOME ARE DOING IT FOR THEIR EGOS AND NOT FOR THE PEOPLE , BUT YOU ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING BY ASKING QUESTIONS AND HOPEFULLY MY ANSWER IS OF SOME HELP

I\'ll be prepared to listen to your views and act on what is best for Auckland, unlike other candidates that will pretend to and then do what they want regardless, as politicians as we know are the least trusted people in the country and are just scumbags. 

I see everyone as equals as we all human (well, most of us). So you\'ll get the same voice as anyone else, true democracy.

What can I do for you personally, nothing! But as a community of Auckland, well the sky is the limit if we all work together instead of fight like our current leaders (eg Labour, National, ACT, Greens, Maori, United Future and Jim Anderton ((Clown))  Parties). 

The Communist League campaign does not offer to do anything for you, we promise to join with you and others to defend the interests of working people in this city.

It is clear to all the world wide economic crisis is continuing to unravel economic growth in New Zealand is stagnant and jobs in manfacturing have declined by some 20% over the last five years. The capitalist’s solution is to make working people pay by cutting jobs and wages, forcing speed up at the cost of life and limb of workers and cutting our social entitlements, all the while protecting the interests of big business. From the outset the Supercity has been a part of this increasing domination of capital, cutting jobs and cutting council services and facilities.

The Communist League campaign points to the need for working people to organize and act in our own interests, ultimately this means taking power out of the hands of the capitalist class and we as working people organizing society in the interests of humanity not big business.

The idea that we as Aucklanders share a common interest and goal is one of the myraid ways the capitalist rulers disguise the most fundamental division in society. The vast majority of us are working people we sell our labour to survive, and we produce the wealth in this city, as opposed to the tiny handful of capitalists who exploit our labour, and control local and national government.

The Communist League present a series of demands that we organize to fight around today to address the needs of working people in face of this crisis, our campaign platform, is available here on this website.

I want to focus on:

Jobs for all! We demand that the work that is available be shared rather than pitting workers against each other such as the 2,700 who applied for 150 jobs at New World Mt. Roskill in mid-August. Combine this with workers being paid a livable wage. That public works be organized to build the public housing, health clinics, public transport, child care that working people in this city need.

We demand no cuts to council services and facilities that working people use.

Communist League campaign supporters joined with teachers who marched down Queen St as part of their fight to win a union contract that provides not only a decent wage but reasonable job conditions– an example of the kind of action needed to defend our social entitlements.

To build the kind of movement that can bring about fundamental change we put forward a programme that seeks to build unity among working people and overcome the many racist, sexist and chauvinist obstacles fostered by the bosses. That is why the Communist League campaign fights for equal rights for immigrants, and demands the government stop the arrest and deportation of \"overstayers\". We call for immediate permanent residency for all undocumented immigrants who want to live and work here.

The Communist League campaign points to the need for working people to build solidarity with workers struggles worldwide, and recognize that victories for toilers elsewhere strengthens our hand as we march along the road towards workers taking power. That is why we demand New Zealand withdraw all armed forces and cops from Afghanistan and the Pacific now, that these countries be allowed to determine their future without the jack boot of imperialist intervention and call for an end to sanctions against Fiji.