PIPPA COOM, COUNCILLOR, AUCKLAND CENTRAL

PIPPA COOM: IT'S A WRAP AFTER 12 YEARS ON AUCKLAND COUNCIL

Now that the dust had settled it's time to call a wrap on the election campaign and my council career.

It certainly wasn’t the result I was hoping for. I really thought Auckland was ready for a visionary progressive Pasifika Mayor Collins who is an empathetic and constructive leader. I wish the Wayne Brown Mayoralty the best and hope that he will quickly figure out what really needs to be fixed (like the lack of safe cycleways and dedicated bus lanes) but early indications are not promising.

However, there are results to acknowledge and celebrate. I am delighted that City Vision’s Julie Fairey has been elected to the governing body and will be joined by Labour’s Lotu Fuli and Kerrin Leoni. It was a mixed overall result for City Vision but I am really happy for all those elected. Congratulations to the new members joining the Waitematā Local Board. The foundations of the local board are strong so I am sure we will continue to see great work for the community.

I am of course gutted that I was unsuccessful in my bid to be re-elected to Auckland Council. It has been a huge privilege to serve as Councillor for Waitematā and Gulf ward following 9 years on the Waitematā Local Board. Over the last term there had been lots of progress and achievements that I am really proud about, from work on local issues like safety outside schools and the Covid-19 recovery, to being part of a leadership team that saw the adoption of Te Tāruki ā Tāwhiri: Auckland's Climate Pan, the Climate Action Targeted Rate with almost $1 billion of climate action investment over the next 10 years and the bold Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway. In particular, I'm proud of the progress we made on the Hauraki Gulf Forum following the adoption of cogovernance leadership in February 2020. There is no going back from the path the Forum is now on.

I’m really grateful for all the support I’ve received and the many working relationships I’ve built up that I hope to maintain. I need further time to reflect on what I should have done differently and why I didn’t secure support from those who share City Vision’s progressive values. What I certainly hadn’t anticipated was the need to fight an election on two fronts: against an opponent willing to stretch the truth (to put it kindly) and the often nasty and misogynistic personal attack against me led by the Taxpayers Union.

This was the first election with very little media coverage at a ward level to counter all the disinformation. The death of John Elliott left a big gap in the local coverage. As this is my final column for Ponsonby News after more than 13 years I wish to thank Martin for the opportunity to contribute and to the many readers over this time. I hope my departure from council now draws to an end the regular fact-free abuse directed at me and City Vision members.

I have written to Mike Lee to congratulate him and will continue to stay close to all the communities across Waitematā and Gulf. I'm disappointed, but probably shouldn't be surprised, that after campaigning for Mike over three elections he wasn't able to gracefully pass the baton but ended up endorsed by National party aligned C&R. It will be interesting to see how he works with Mayor Brown on issues like Ports of Auckland and adapts to the expectations of a far more respectful way of working with staff and colleagues than he has previously experienced.

Despite the final result this time around I remain hopeful. I think this election will end up being seen as a turning point that actually strengthens the Hauraki Gulf Forum (especially the debate for co-governance) and the Super City for the best of Auckland rather than rips it apart. I wish the new mayor and council well and will stay close to the action as much as I can.

A fuller version of my election reflections is available at pippacoom.co.nz (PIPPA COOM)  PN