City Vision has selected an experienced team to bring progressive leadership for a better city to the 2025 Auckland Council elections. Current Councillor Julie Fairey and Local Board member Jon Turner will stand together in the Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa Ward. Patrick Reynolds, deputy chair of the City Centre Advisory Panel, will contest the Waitematā and Gulf Ward.

After 12 years of successful delivery on the Puketāpapa Local Board, including securing funding for the award-winning Te Auaunga Oakley Creek stream restoration and flood resilience project, Councillor Julie Fairey hit the ground running in her first term on Auckland Council's Governing Body. Julie has led the process to give local boards more funding and greater decision-making powers, helping flood-affected residents and leading community information sessions, and been instrumental in preventing cuts to valued community services such as the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

‘Aucklanders achieve more together than we can on our own, I’m seeking a second term to continue working with the community on issues that matter. We’ve only just started making our city resilient to flooding across the western isthmus, there’s a lot more to do,’ says Julie.

Campaigning alongside Julie for the second seat in the ward is Jon Turner, a second-term member of the Puketāpapa Local Board and chair of the Manukau Harbour Forum since 2020. A trained secondary school teacher, Jon also has a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Auckland.

Julie is thrilled Jon is standing alongside her in the ward. ‘Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa deserves councillors who actively engage with our community and do the constituency work our people need.’

Jon served as Deputy Chair of the Local Board from 2021-2022, and worked closely with mana whenua on a 30-year area plan for future facilities and open space in areas of major housing development in Mt Roskill, Wesley and Ōwairaka. Jon’s achievements on the Local Board also include widening and repairing footpaths, launching the first school bike train in Auckland, and funding environmental restoration in parks and reserves.

On the Governing Body, Jon’s goals include working towards climate adaptation, resilience and healthy waterways.

'The 2023 floods showed us that we need to build a sponge city – that means naturalising streams, improving stormwater networks, and making sure houses are built in the right places,' says Jon.

Jon will also seek a funded plan for restoring the Manukau Harbour and continue his work towards a balanced and efficient transport system, to address congestion and increase bus frequencies, and to fix the day-to-day problems of narrow, uneven footpaths.

'No matter which transport mode Aucklanders use, everybody uses the footpath. When central government cuts funding for footpath repairs, council has to step in. I’m committed to working towards a well-connected transport network,' says Jon.

Patrick Reynolds will contest the Waitematā and Gulf Ward. Patrick is the Deputy Chair of the City Centre Advisory Panel, a director of Greater Auckland, a former director of NZTA Waka Kotahi, and a member of Urban Auckland, a group of architects and urban designers advocating for good design in cities.

‘I love this city, it’s a place of such enormous promise, founded on a gift between cultures. I know and love the Waitematā and Gulf, from the transforming city centre to the tree-lined inner suburbs and the glorious Gulf islands,' says Patrick.

An early advocate for the City Rail Link, Patrick has long been involved in building a vibrant, multicultural city centre grounded in its history as part of the founding gift from Āpihai Te Kawau. As deputy chair of Auckland Council’s City Centre Advisory Panel, which advises on the best use of the City Centre Targeted Rate, he’s especially proud of his involvement with new public spaces like Te Kōmititanga and the soon-to-open Te Hā Noa Victoria Street Linear Park. Increased funding for security, outreach to rough sleepers, and more police on the beat – successfully lobbied for by the Panel – have contributed to increased footfall and spending in the city centre.

'I want visitors to come to Auckland, not just as a gateway to the rest of Aotearoa, but to enjoy how green, safe, clean and exciting it is,' says Patrick.

City Vision co-chair Bobby Shen welcomed the team’s selection. The three candidates share a vision and progressive policies for a safe, thriving city with well-designed homes near where Aucklanders work and play, with a great transport network that gives them the freedom to choose how to travel.

Bobby says, ‘Councillors make decisions for all of Auckland, so we took a regional approach in selecting our team. The selection panel’s consensus is that Patrick, Jon and Julie know what Auckland needs to grow into a city that works for everyone, and they have the governance experience to get things done.’

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