Kirsten Wise keen to serve a second term on Napier City Council

Napier councillor Kirsten Wise will seek another term at this year's elections.

First-term councillor Kirsten Wise is "keen to serve another term" on Napier City Council.

She said she was also "very excited" to announce her intention to stand for the mayoralty in the 2019 elections, a goal which sees her standing at large in the upcoming elections as opposed to seeking a second term in the Taradale Ward.

Born and raised in Napier, she said she was committed to promoting and protecting what she describes as "the best little city in the world".

After travelling extensively in her 20s there was never any doubt in her mind that she would return to Napier to raise her family and eventually retire.

Before being successfully elected as Taradale Ward councillor in the 2013 elections, her passion for the city and the wider Hawke's Bay region saw her elected to the Hawke's Bay District Health Board in 2010, serve two terms on the Board of Trustees of her daughter's primary school and also set up local accountancy firm Black & White Accounting, with two business partners.

In addition to her role as city councillor she is active in governance roles including treasurer of the Taradale RSA and a member of the Taradale Marketing Association, the Hawke's Bay Basketball Foundation and the Hawke's Bay Medical Research Foundation.

In her first council term, she served as chairwoman of the Finance Committee and a member of the Audit & Risk Committee. She has an accounting career that spans 25 years.

"Utilising my skills and expertise in the financial sector to support businesses throughout our city and stimulate economic growth across our region as a whole is one of my key drivers for standing for council," Ms Wise said.

With governance experience both in local and central government she has always been keen to see much more collaboration between local and central government agencies.

As such she is very excited about the recently launched Regional Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan 2016.

She said that with the bulk of her family, including her young daughter and parents, living locally she had a vested interest in ensuring the region offered quality services for everyone.