The city has made a lot of progress during my first term and we have exciting plans for the future. I have decided I would like the opportunity to consolidate our gains and continue to nurture the growing business confidence in Lower Hutt as we emerge from a difficult financial period. I have decided to seek re-election. This year council will have one of the lowest average rate increases in the country for the third year running under my watch as Mayor. I have always been conscious of the need to constrain spending and keep our rates as low as possible while continuing to invest in our city infrastructure. During my first term as Mayor I have been well supported by Deputy Mayor David Bassett who has done a great job on behalf of the city. We work effectively as an executive team in getting things done for the benefit of the city. I have asked Cr Bassett to be my deputy for a second term and he has agreed. We are very fortunate to have a strong hard-working council who have put in a lot of hours on behalf of residents and ratepayers. One of my roles has been to encourage councillors to develop a collegial working relationship with each other while engaging in robust debate and doing the best for Lower Hutt. And I think they have done a great job. I will also continue to advocate for the voice of all Lower Hutt people to ensure they are heard. The local government reorganisation proposals for a super city being put forward by a working committee of the Greater Wellington Regional Council and supporting councils do not reflect the desire of our community which is to retain existing boundaries while seeking greater shared services. There has been a refusal to acknowledge the rights and will of our community which is not acceptable to me. I also promoted ground-breaking graffiti removal legislation in support of his election commitment to reduce graffiti in the city. I have also been the overseer of a significant efficiency review within the council which has seen major savings. Hutt City last year had one of the lowest average rate rises in New Zealand and is proposing an average rate rise of less than one per cent for the 2013-2014 year. I am confident we will hold rates to that level.
Other achievements by Mayor Ray Wallace during his current term of office include:
· Maintaining a council focus on improving infrastructure across the city with the completion of flood protection projects like Black Creek and on-going work on the Awamutu Stream
· Actively working to achieve a safe city through further installation of CCTV cameras across the city and supporting community patrols and neighbourhood support.
· Developing a strong linkage between the community and police leading to a dramatic reduction in crime across Hutt City
· Creating a clean city through a sustained graffiti removal campaign which included employment of a full-time graffiti removal coordinator and development of leading edge systems to remove and suppress graffiti
· Encouraging the democratic process by working with community boards and committees to ensure the views of residents and ratepayers are being heard. Successful representation included the decision by council to build a new McKenzie Pool complex at Petone
· Supported and promoted a city business stimulus package to kick start business enterprise and economic growth in the city. Multi-million projects are now being considered for Lower Hutt and new central city business development and liaison positions have been created.
· Advocated for retention of major science and technology institutions in Lower Hutt through personal representation to Ministers in Central Government. One significant success was the decision by government to retain the former Industrial Research Limited as one of three national Callaghan Innovation centres linking science and technology to new industry. Lower Hutt now has 800 organisations and businesses with links to science. Local business people were also assisted in getting TVNZ to support local retention of the Avalon television studios.
· Energy conservation through active support for the Mayoral solar challenge and installation of solar panels and other measures achieved a 30 per cent reduction in power consumption at The Dowse.
· Supporting improvements to parks and gardens across the city and personally undertook environmental conservation in his own home achieving a 70 per cent reduction in waste going to the landfill.
· Working to ensure the Taita community development project got under way providing a significant benefit to that community in the future and creating a regional sports facility for Lower Hutt.
· Personally standing up and facing difficult issues within society and being appointed an Ambassador against family violence and bullying. He also personally rode the late night buses to talk with young people reported to be causing trouble.
· Visiting schools and encouraging vocational training through city scholarships and job placement programmes and supported youth activities and encouraged young people to get involved in local government representation. Promoted sister city student and teacher exchanges with Tempe in Arizona and Minoh in Japan.
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