When Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby stated immediately after the last election that the handbrakes were now off, never would I have realised his meant promoting a downtown sporting stadium.

But then I don't really know what he meant by that statement - because as a ratepayer I believe Tauranga needs a firm hand, not a potentially spendthrift Mayor which is what he seems to now be promoting.

At least new councillor Matt Cowley seems to have the common sense to publicly come out and say a stadium will not necessarily bring economic benefit to Tauranga - and in this instance I support Matt 100 per cent.

Surely this cannot be part of the Mayor's stated 100 days of new vision and direction he promised for the city if re-elected? And let's be honest, he only just made it as Mayor this time; his massive previous majority was reduced when only winning the top seat in October by about 600 votes.

We are expecting more than this from our elected representatives; and the months ahead will basically set the scene for the spending habits of this council.

Having a Mayor that has been on council for more than 27 years, I don't have high expectations anything will change.

Mike Baker, Bethlehem.