'The Nation'

Dave Cull

Interviewed By SEAN PLUNKET

SEAN Let’s say good morning now to Dunedin’s new Mayor who is live in our Dunedin studio. Congratulations to you Dave Cull.

DAVE CULL – Dunedin Mayor Thank you Sean.

SEAN Alright what’s your priority starting work Monday? Obviously you’ve got to go through some swearing in and everything else, but what is at the top of your agenda for Dunedin?

DAVE I think there are two priorities Sean. The first as we said all through the campaign, we have to get some head room financially. The city has a huge burden of debt, we can’t do anything new until we make some head room, so I’ll be looking to cut operating costs without touching services, without degrading services to give us some head room to move forward. The other priority is, I guess given the makeup of the Council, my job is to unite the Council to achieve those aims.

SEAN How do you cut spending without cutting services?

DAVE Efficiencies in a word. Every organisation builds up layers of inefficiency from time to time, whether they’re private organisations or public organisations and we need to look harder at the Council operating costs. It’s the only alternative we have if we don’t want years of stagnation and rising rates, beyond people’s ability to pay.

SEAN Will the stadium in its current form be subjected to a sort of line by line review? Is it possible that that project might be modified in an effort to lessen the Council’s financial exposure?

DAVE I will be wanting to review all our projects, all our assets, all our debts, so the stadium won’t be immune from that, however having said that my impression is that it’s pretty lean in there already.

SEAN It might be lean elsewhere in Dunedin as well Dave Cull, you might find that those savings simply aren’t there.

DAVE Well we’ll see won’t we.

SEAN What do you say to your predecessor Peter Chin, you’ve talked to him, what was his message to you?

DAVE He was very gracious, rang me within seconds of my finding out that I had won the contest last night, gave me a call. He was basically saying to me that he’ll do anything that needs to be done to make a smooth transition in handing over the reins of the mayoralship.

SEAN Congratulations again Mayor Cull. No doubt we’ll be talking to you on this programme in future. Dave Cull there, the new Mayor of Dunedin and like so many politicians I’m going to find efficiencies that my predecessors couldn’t find.

ENDS

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