Former Deputy Mayor Aksel Bech has decided to throw his hat in the ring a second time for the Waikato District Mayoral race happening later this year.
Local body elections are due in October and the jostling has begun for ways to unseat the current Mayor Jacqui Church. Current Tamahere Councillor and Raglan bach owner Mike Keir had previously expressed an interest running for the position but has now withdrawn from the race so as to not split the vote with Aksel Bech.
In a statement he said: “There is no point in both of us running as my main reason for standing was to unseat our incumbent Mayor, Jacqui Church”, going on to say that “if they split the vote and allowed Jacqui back in ... it would not be good for the district”.
Aksel Bech was widely tipped to win the Mayoralty at the last election but a public mood for change saw several sitting mayors removed around New Zealand and support from outgoing Mayor Alan Sanson may have been the kiss of death for his campaign - with Jacqui Church admitting afterwards that she was surprised to win.
Although Mike Keir says he can’t work with Jacqui Church again as she blocked the reforms he tried to bring in over the last 3 years it looks like he will run for the Tamahere councillors’ role in the hope that Aksel wins the Mayoralty.
Meanwhile over at the Regional council, their councillors have landed on a 5.7% increase in rates revenue which is higher than the current New Zealand inflation rate of 4.7%. It is however significantly lower than the 8.6% signalled 12 months ago through the 2024-2034 Long Term Plan.
Additional funding of $240,000 was committed for expert work on a business case and implementation plan for Te Huia – the passenger rail service between Waikato and Auckland.
Councillors were evenly split on whether to use a prior year surplus of $2.545 million to reduce rates for 2025/26, or to hold it to be available for one-off costs that arise due to rapid changes in the council’s operating environment. Chair Pamela Storey ended up with the casting vote so the motion to return the surplus to ratepayers was lost.
In local sport the Raglan Roosters are playing at home this Sunday at 1pm at Papahua. Sitting midtable in division 1 of the Waikato Sunday League they’re actually playing a Scottish Cup game on Sunday against Ruakura FC from division 3 - so we’re expecting lots of goals.
The Whaingaroa Whai league team are playing away in Huntly against the Rangiriri Storm. They’re two wins from two so far this season so we’re hoping for a third on Saturday.