Media statement Emabargo: 1am Monday 18 July 2016 Jo Coughlan for Mayor

Coughlan confirms ‘Mayor only' campaign

Wellington Mayoral Candidate Jo Coughlan today confirmed she will only be standing as a mayoral candidate and not as a candidate for the Onslow Western Ward. This follows newspaper advertisements calling for nominations in local government elections which opened on Friday July 15th.

“I have enjoyed being a councillor for the Onslow Western Ward for the past nine years and helping to serve the local community in which I have lived for past twenty five years.

“Over my time on Council I have regularly seen Councillors put their names forward for Mayor as a way in which they can achieve more name recognition for what is really a campaign to keep their seat on Council.

“In a STV environment this does create confusion. However I want it to be crystal clear my focus is on leading the city. I am not standing for a ward seat as a way of remaining on council. For this election I am 100% standing for mayor only, nothing else.

“We need a change of mayor to fix our roading and infrastructure deficit and to implement the rest of my Road Map www.joformayor.co.nz.

“ I want to totally focus on leading this fantastic city and send an unambiguous message to voters through this confirmation I am only standing for mayor.

“My vision is to put the ‘capital’ back into the Capital city. To restore Wellington to its rightful place in the nation by taking actions that will make Wellingtonians proud and our city a great place to live and do business over the next 100 years.

“I have the necessary connections across the political spectrum to ensure that central government will work with Wellington to get our infrastructure up to standard. At a minimum, double tunnel both The Terrace and Mount Victoria tunnels and four lane Ruahine St.

“I will promote a progressive agenda including positioning Wellington as a digital and tech city including supporting “Tech Field Days”; build a 10-12,000 seat concert venue in the city to secure events; prioritise improvements to cycleways but allocate the majority of the Government’s contribution to an iconic harbour side route from Miramar to Ngauranga; and upgrade the Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre with an additional 50m deep water pool.

“I have experience on the council, energy, enthusiasm, vision, and key relationships that will ensure Wellington has the leadership it is crying out for.

“As a councillor I have been privileged to have had great support enabling me to also serve the wider city for the past six years as Economic Portfolio Leader and Chair of the Economic Growth and Arts Committee. We have seen some significant progress under my chairmanship.

“I led the 2011 Economic Development strategy and gained support across the Council and the city for a range of goals and priorities focussing on a growth agenda for Wellington.

“We are now seeing results. In less than 100 days a Singapore Airlines long haul flight will be leaving Wellington for Singapore; we have co-funded the resource consent for the Airport Runway Extension; we are seeing the progression of a new Convention centre and film museum; we have supported the growing tech community in Wellington through Creative HQ and the creation of a new Tech Hub; we established Destination Wellington to attract tourism, jobs and investment to Wellington, and now fund 80% of the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency.

“Many of the indicators suggest we are making progress. We have achieved our goal of 10,000 new jobs for the city and the central city’s economy grew faster than Auckland’s last year. But we need to do a whole lot more and this can only happen with new and effective leadership. It is time for me to move from Chair to Mayor.

“I will encourage people to seriously consider standing for the Council in the Onslow Western Ward and hope that the timing of this announcement gives people time to do so.

“Being a councillor is an important and challenging role and I encourage anyone who is considering it to put their name in the ring.

“My full energy and focus is to become Wellington Mayor so we can make the progress we are capable of, make a difference and get more things done across the board. See my Road Map www.joformayor.co.nz

Ends.

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