A Whangarei councillor hoping to bump his job title up to "mayor" has described a council which is overly secretive and slow to consult its residents.
Greater transparency, stronger leadership, an examination of the rating system, and better consultation are on Stuart Bell's to do list if he is elected mayor in October.
He's the only one of Whangarei's six mayoral hopefuls - apart from incumbent mayor Sheryl Mai - with a position on the current council and said he felt the council lacked leadership and Ms Mai had failed to pull rogue councillors into line.
"We still have councillors voting based on where their family members live - that sort of crazy stuff. The leadership needs to be upskilling the elected council so they can make better decisions," he said.
A review of the rating system was also among his top priorities. Mr Bell voted against a series of increases which saw rates go up 9 per cent last year and 4 per cent this year, with plans for further increases until 2025.