Super City elections 2013: Fight looming for control in Lee's patch

The Judges Bay resanding is a project candidate Greg Moyle is claiming credit for. Photo / Dean Purcell

Opponent argues it is vital to get rid of veteran incumbent to change the balance of power on city's council

The gloves are off in the Waitemata and Gulf ward to claim the prize of what the incumbent Mike Lee calls the capital of Auckland.

His main opponent, Greg Moyle, says it is crucial to defeat the left-wing Mr Lee to change the balance of power on the council. Mr Lee calls Mr Moyle an "unreconstructed conservative" who represents the old days of Citizens & Ratepayers' domination of Auckland City politics.

There is little love between the two men, who want to represent a ward stretching from the liberal, but fast gentrifying, western suburbs of Westmere, Ponsonby, Grey Lynn and Arch Hill to the conservative eastern reaches of Parnell and Newmarket.

In the middle is the CBD - the city's economic, educational and cultural centre, while out in the Hauraki Gulf lie Great Barrier and Waiheke Islands, where Mr Lee has a head start, having lived there on and off since 1972.

The former Auckland Regional Council chairman and unashamed left-winger is taking no prisoners, responding in kind to a "begging letter" Mr Moyle has sent to potential supporters asking for help to fund a $45,000 campaign plan to beat Mr Lee and a council that continues with erratic and bad decisions.

"Greg is very much Auckland City politics as usual," says Mr Lee.

Shale Chambers, who chairs the pro-Mike Lee, City Vision-controlled Waitemata Local Board, has weighed in by accusing Mr Moyle - one of two independents on the board - of being "AWOL for three years, living on a three-year knowledge of the old Auckland City Council, collecting his pay"- a claim Mr Moyle vehemently denied.

Mr Moyle's line is he is the only business-friendly candidate. The businessman, who calls himself a "pragmatic environmentalist or a boring centralist", is projecting himself as a doer in the ward, listing a long list of achievements from his days as an Auckland City councillor. They include resanding Judges Bay, a new skate park at Victoria Park, St Patrick Square upgrade and a 40km speed limit on Ponsonby Rd.

He also wants to rein in the erratic and bad decisions of the first Auckland Council term to focus on core council activity, respecting private property rights (balanced with heritage) and promote public private partnerships.

Mr Lee rejects the suggestion he is a spendthrift, saying he has spoken out against spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new IT systems for the Super City and opposed the $104 million purchase of the ASB Bank Centre for the new council headquarters.

Another candidate wanting to step up to council from the Waitemata board is the independent Rob Thomas, 32, who stood for the ward in 2010 and came fourth.

Other candidates are Stephen Berry, of the right-wing Affordable Auckland ticket; sculptor Charlotte Fisher and Aleksandar Zivaljevic.

As well as standing for the ward, Mr Moyle and Mr Thomas are also standing for the Waitemata Local Board, as are Mr Berry and Ms Fisher.

Mr Moyle has set up a new Team Waitemata ticket with five candidates.

Waitemata profile

Ethnicity: European 65%, Asian 21%, Pacific 7%, Maori 6%
Median age: 30.5 years
Median household income: $73,691
Local boards: Great Barrier, Waiheke and Waitemata
Current councillor: Mike Lee

Ward candidates (1 seat)
Stephen Berry (Affordable Auckland), Charlotte Fisher, Mike Lee, Greg Moyle (Independent), Rob Thomas (Independent), Aleksandar Zivaljevic

To view your local board candidates for Great Barrier, Waiheke and Waitemata go to voteauckland.co.nz