Greg Brownless has announced today that he will run as a candidate for the Otumoetai/Pyes Pa ward in the upcoming Tauranga by-election.

The by-election has come about due to Tauranga City Councillor Jako Albrie resigning on Thursday as a city councillor citing council dysfunction, and advocating that all elected members resign.

On hearing the news of Tauranga city councillor Jako Albrie's resignation, Greg, who was Tauranga's mayor before losing to Tenby Powell at the last local elections, said on Saturday that he needed time to digest the news and talk with family and friends.

'I've made the decision now. I will run,” says Greg. 'I do believe that I could be a force for good on council as I have a proven record of being able to work civilly and constructively with parties who hold diverse views. Now is the time to introduce knowledge, common sense and stability to council. It will be a challenge but I'm up to that challenge.

'I think that I'm up to speed with the workings of council and they have some important decisions to make coming up fairly soon.

Former mayor Greg Brownless.

'I think that I can bring a calmness and common sense to decision making without getting bogged down in personalities. The decisions I make are on issues and there are many facing Tauranga still.

'One of the big issues is transport and roading. I'm concerned that they get Cameron Rd right and not choke it up with the current plans.”

Greg says he has maintained a low profile since the 2019 local election in order to give the new council a good chance.

'Clearly it hasn't worked out,” says Greg.

'I'm someone who can work with anybody. We can disagree but we still all work together. I've worked under three different mayors and never had an issue, even though we've had the normal political disagreements – that's what happens - that's politics, but it's never turned nasty.”

He was surprised to hear of Jako's resignation.

'It's clear that for the sake of Tauranga we need a council that is able to work together amicably even when there are disagreements,” says Greg.

'It is a sad indication of the toxicity at TCC that an intelligent and committed councillor like Jako felt he had no choice but to resign. I wish him well and we should thank him for doing his best.”

Also throwing her hat in the ring as a candidate is Bethlehem's Kim Williams who ran for councillor at large, and Murray Guy who ran for mayor and Otumoetai/Pyes Pa ward councillor in the 2019 election.

Former councillor Murray Guy.

'I've had a few calls from folk to see if I would, it's been amazing,” says Murray Guy. 'Everybody knows that my interest in things about city council and residents hasn't waned at all. That's never going to change.”

Murray says he is interested in running for the role as 'possibly a caretaker mind-set until the next election” rather than a long-term goal.

'There's a couple of years [left in the term], and it seems quite evident to me that while it's nice to have the new blood, the young blood, and new thinking, it seems quite evident as a direct result of a significant change at the last election, that while the new blood is good, the history and knowledge of local authorities and local government and the ability to carry out that due diligence based on that experience is probably what's critically lacking at council.

'The elected members – and this is not a criticism – but they are very much reliant on staff for direction and advice, and I know personally I have really struggled with what I believe to be misunderstandings on the part of elected members in regards to obligations and responsibilities.

'I think they've been taken for a bit of a ride in some areas,” says Murray.

'I wouldn't see myself as campaigning heavily for the role as people already know who I am and what I stand for.

'It's going to be an incredibly interesting time. What I would like to know is – I'd love to be a fly on the wall – in the council offices and in one or two elected member's homes, because there's a lot at stake with this by-election for what I'll call the majority mind-set that prevails at the moment – Team Tenby – there's a lot at stake. Because clearly Jako for the most part aligned with the direction of the mayor and his team.

'So they've got to be obviously quite concerned about that,” says Murray.

Jako Albrie.

'I do not buy into Jako's resignation as in any way being a result of any input on the part of any councillor. The mayor has gone out and said that his resignation has come about as a result of his age, his lack of experience in local government – well of course the mayor hasn't got any either. But I don't believe that [about Jako] for a second.

'Sadly Jako had what appears to me to be the most critical component or personal attribute that we need around our city council chambers and that was integrity,” says Murray.

'I didn't agree with Jako on some of the things he voted for, but what he has is integrity and I'm just so disappointed that the mayor – and I'm not attacking Tenby – but very much his role was to identify these strengths or weaknesses of elected members and to provide the support where they were clearly necessary. Jako certainly appeared to have professional training and education and an integrity. He certainly had huge potential for our community as I see it. So that disappoints me.”

'I will stand [for the by-election] but not to a view of re-standing at the following election,” says Murray Guy. 'I will stand now to take on a caretaker role for the remaining two years until the next election.

'An absolute critical element that seems to be missing from the present council is experience around how councils work and I have that experience having been a councillor before.”

Kim Williams.

Kim Williams has decided that she'll have nothing to lose by running as a candidate in the by-election, 'and it will be a good platform for next time too”.

Anne Pankhurst, Erika Harvey and Dave Bridgens have all confirmed that they will not be running for council in the upcoming by-election.

Erika cites having family time now as important, after having run unsuccessfully as a candidate in the 2019 local elections for the Otumoetai/Pyes Pa ward and in the 2020 General Election as the NZ First Party candidate for Tauranga.