Experienced Porirua City Councillor Anita Baker has announced her candidacy for the Porirua mayoralty.

“I get things done and say things as they are. Porirua City finds itself in need of a strong hand on the tiller. We are a city with so much potential with strong and diverse communities, but we also have looming costs and growing debt.

Councillor Baker is a strong candidate for the role having had three terms on the council where she chairs one of two standing committees.

“I will be an effective promoter of Porirua’s strengths, I will answer our critics and I will focus on the core services that residents and ratepayers require their council to deliver.”

Ms Baker said the city needed a clear and funded plan to improve our basic services like roads, footpaths, parks and our pipes. “People have told me they think these services are slipping behind and they are the basis of local government,” she says.

She says other priorities include a simple and measurable action plan for restoration of the harbour and adapting to climate change, along with getting on top of the city’s budget deficit early.

“Porirua has had three years of an ‘I don’t know or it’s not my fault’ Mayor. This costs us in a whole lot of ways - financially, reputationally, and it makes it harder to deliver anything because the goal posts are never set by the person at the top of the table.”

Cr Baker represents the city’s northern ward and believes she will be a Mayor who can work with the whole city. With a background in the private sector, and strong community involvement in education and sports, Cr Baker is a mother of two adult children and she lives with her partner in Whitby. She was born and raised in Porirua.

ENDS

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