Newly elected Auckland Council member Denise Krum is gearing up for a hefty workload after taking calls from Maungakiekie-Tamaki residents expecting prompt action on local issues.
Although she is a fortnight from being sworn into office, she says she is already being asked for help on a range of headaches, from berm-mowing to blocked drains and illegal car-parking.
That should have been no surprise to Ms Krum, a Communities and Residents candidate who unseated veteran Labour councillor Richard Northey by almost 900 votes, as she is a daughter of former National Government minister and co-founder of the 1990s-era Christian Democrats Party, Graeme Lee.
In fact, the first duty she took on as a councillor-elect was to stand beside busy Onehunga and Panmure roads during the Monday evening traffic peak with a hand-made sign thanking the public for their votes.
That followed a vigorous campaign in which her relative youth, at 42, was contrasted with Mr Northey's superannuitant "war-horse" status after a political career which began for him in 1979 and included service as an MP and 20 years as a city councillor.