"Stop the museum, four-lane Turret Rd and then let's look at public transport."
That's the road John Robson, likely winner of the Tauranga City Council byelection, wants to see the council on as it plans for the next decade.
In a 20-horse race, the former Tauranga councillor had an 800-vote lead over his nearest rival, Mark Wassung, for the vacant at-large council seat as polls closed at 12pm yesterday.
The result will be confirmed on Thursday once all last-minute and special votes are counted.
The winner will be sworn in on Monday.
It would be a familiar experience for Robson, who served one term before voters ousted him in 2016.
He later made good on his 2013 campaign promise to give part of his council salary back to the city if he was not re-elected, donating $58,000.
Robson has promised to do the same if the voters do not want him back in 2019.
He said he would "absolutely" stand again and was eyeing his fifth tilt at the mayoralty.
"It's crossed my mind. The leadership of the city is really critical. I would love the ability to lead the drafting of the budget for this city."
Robson praised the professionalism of Tauranga City Council staff.
Asked if he supported chief executive Garry Poole, Robson said he believed "the city needs a change of direction".
"If Garry's capable of change, that's fine, if someone else is offering something more, let's see."
Councillors voted to advertise the role when Poole's contract ended in April. Poole is one of five shortlisted candidates.
Sitting councillors Rick Curach and Steve Morris publicly backed Robson's campaign.
Robson credited "marketing genius" Curach - ''Pick Rick'' - for his memorable election signs featuring a confused baby, but said the "you must be joking" theme was his own idea.
Robson said he spent about $20,000 of his own money on his campaign and was satisfied with the result.
"I've got a lot of work to do. There's a lot of people out there who have placed faith in that vote delivering some sort of result."
Robson campaigned on wanting free school buses but said yesterday all he could do was advocate to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, which runs school buses, and hope other councillors would, too.
He said he would go into Long-Term Plan deliberations "with an open mind", but the council needed to "prioritise and focus".
Big issues included water, stormwater, wastewater and transport infrastructure and addressing rates rises and council debt.
"The measure of whether I have achieved what I have set out to achieve will become pretty obvious within two months.
"The numbers the people of this city are currently facing have to change significantly for me to feel like I'm doing my job."
Who is John Robson?
- Aged 59
- Lives in Tauriko
- Father to Carys, 17, and Tomos, 14
- Partner of Beth Hughes for 27 years
- Retired management consultant
- Tauranga City Councillor 2013 to 2016
Made with funding from
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