Not just Business As Usual Politics

Although  we have different policies, I’ve been co-operating with Hayley Robinson and  Sridhar Ekambaram throughout my  campaign and I hope Onslow-Western voters will consider us all as worthy  preferences because we’ve already been working together for months,” says  Wellington City Council candidate, Malcolm Aitken.

“We  have different policies in some areas, and we agree on a lot. If you vote for  one, two, or maybe all of us you’re voting for candidates who have done  the hard graft. On the final day of nominations a number of names suddenly  appeared from nowhere. At that stage we’d been active for months, running  separate campaigns but helping each other with leafleting and telling each other
about important meetings coming up.

“We’ve  put in the hard yards and we’ve been very consultative.  We’ve talked to thousands of residents in person and on the phone. We’re all  environmentally aware, believe in the supporting local businesses as well as  encouraging new ones to the capital, do our research and are consensus builders.  We’ve got a lot of researched ideas that would contribute to a more successful  Wellington for all of us.

"Obviously,  we would make every effort to work with anyone you elect for the good of both the Onslow-Western ward and the city as a whole," Hayley says.
 
"However with Sridhar and Malcolm there is already an existing respect  and relationship that would mean we could hit the ground running. We already  know that each will listen to the others' reasoning with open minds. It has been  brilliant working with them during the campaign.

   “I  particularly enjoy a good debate with Sridhar about the importance of car parks  for retail customers. Malcolm and I share concerns that our small and medium  businesses are not well supported. Whatever the topic, we all believe in
grass-roots style councillors; you're more likely to find us at a residents  meeting than some glamorous opening ceremony [that's what Mayors are  for].”

“It's local body politics, Jim, but not as we know it,” Malcolm says.

“If  you want fresh faces and new ideas around the council table vote for Malcolm  Aitken, Hayley Robinson and Sridhar Ekambaram.”