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Mayoral and Council candidates sign rates pledge
MEDIA RELEASE
Mayoral and Council candidates sign rates pledge
26 SEPTEMBER
2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has today released its voting guide for the 2019 Mayoral and Council elections, showing who has signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge.
The Pledge is a cast iron promise to Auckland ratepayers. It states that:
“I will not vote for any measures which increase the total average burden of rates, levies including the regional fuel tax, and other compulsory Council charges, by more than 2% per annum in aggregate.”
Mayoral candidates that have
signed the Pledge:
• Susanna
Kruger
• Craig
Lord
• John
Tamihere
• Glen
Snelgar
• Peter
Vaughan
Incumbent Phil Goff
and all other Mayoral candidates have refused to sign the
Pledge.
Council candidates that have signed the
Pledge:
• Anne
Degia-Pala (Whau)
• Will
Maxwell-Steele (Waitemata and
Gulf)
• Sharon Stewart
(Howick)
• Veronica Turner
(Manurewa-Papakura)
While Christine
Fletcher is this year bound by C&R’s refusal to
allow its candidates to sign campaign pledges, she is
campaigning for John Tamihere’s proposed rates freeze and
has given the Alliance a personal assurance that she would
not in any case support rates increases above
2%.
Who kept their promise from the 2016 Pledge?
The exact wording of the 2016 Pledge was: “I [candidate’s name] pledge to all Aucklanders that I will not vote for any measures which increase the total average burden of rates, levies, and other compulsory Council charges, more than 2% per annum.”
Six
current Councillors signed the Pledge in
2016:
• Sharon Stewart
signed the Pledge, and successfully held to it. She has
signed again in 2019.
• Christine
Fletcher signed the Pledge, and successfully held
to it. She has committed to a rates freeze in
2019.
• Greg Sayers signed the
Pledge, and successfully held to it. He has not signed in
2019. He has been elected unopposed.
•
Mike Lee signed the Pledge, and successfully held
to it. He has not signed in 2019.
• Desley
Simpson signed the Pledge, but broke it.
•
Wayne Walker signed the Pledge, but broke
it.
• John Watson signed the
Pledge, but broke it.
What about the other
candidates?
If a Mayoral or Council candidate is not named above, then they have not signed the Pledge.
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