'New kid on the block' Greg Mawson's run for council

Greg "Grego" Mawson has decided to run for Napier City Council. Photo / Supplied.

Greg "Grego" Mawson never thought he would get into politics.

But that all changed when he saw an issue that was affecting Napier residents and he went about getting it changed.

That issue was and still is the traffic lights at Kennedy, Wycliffe and Maadi Rd.
However, after almost a year of what he says is inaction from the council and a subsequent petition which garnered almost 5000 signatures, Mawson can only go so far.

He says it is reflective of a bigger issue, and one that needs someone who is willing to go against the status quo. Someone like him, he says.

"More than ever, Napier needs new councillors who are community and future-focused," he says. "I've never thought about going into politics. I mean I've had my own opinions about politics, but it just seems to me that there's a whole lot of lack of common sense at the moment."

The 43-year-old lives and breathes Napier, having lived in the area for 41 years, and he now resides in the Napier Park Ward.

Mawson is a bodybuilder who has competed on the international stage and is currently a personal trainer with his own business; Getitsorted Health and Fitness.

He says doesn't need the job but instead wants to be in the position, to make a "difference".

"If I kick up a bit of a stink, and no one likes it and they try and boot me out, I don't care because I actually want to do what's right by the community."

Mawson says he will "listen, be the voice of reason and pursue and consult on projects that affect us daily".

He is the first to say he's not a councillor, or hasn't studied politics but "has what it takes". "I'm just a person that's all about the community."