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A second Red Beach resident, Hibiscus & Bays Local Board chair Gary Brown, has thrown his hat into the ring for Mayor of Auckland.
Twenty-eight year old Jake Law, also of Red Beach, announced his candidacy last October.
A mayoral campaign is a big step up for both of these local contenders.
While Law has local body politics in the family (his grandfather is former Rodney District Council Mayor John Law), he is a teacher and student politics has been his experience in the field to date. He is currently student president elect at Massey University’s Albany campus.
Brown’s first foray into politics was when he was elected to the local board three years ago, whereupon members voted him in as chair. He says he is loving it and standing for Mayor seemed a natural next goal.
He is also known locally as an entertainer – including a long-standing stint as an Austin Powers impersonator. Brown has continued this work part-time while on the local board, but says if he becomes Mayor, he will have to put performance on the back burner.
In announcing his candidacy, on April 1, he said in his role as chair he has seen the inner workings of how the council operates and feels change is called for.
He said his key concerns include transparency, more robust infrastructure solutions and assisting the homeless.
Other mayoral candidates so far include lawyer Ted Johnston, Manukau councillor Efeso Collins, Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck, businessman Leo Molloy, and Craig Lord who also stood for the position in 2019.
Candidate nominations close on August 12, with the final list of candidates to be announced on August 17. The election will be on Saturday, October 8 – held by postal vote. Voting papers will be sent to all eligible voters from Friday, September 16.
