Local Focus: Hamilton Mayor wants to do 'what's right'

Around the country, mayors elected in October 2016 are reaching the half-way point in their three-year terms.

Journalist Hunter Calder caught up with Hamilton City Council Mayor, Andrew King.

Looking back on 2017, Mr King says the biggest challenge was increasing rates by 16.5 per cent to repay the city's $48 million debt.

Mr King says he regrets not taking councillors "on the journey" with him as the council tried to address the debt.

The council - including five newly-elected councillors - was unaware of the true state of the books until the day came to vote on a proposed rates increase.

"I wasn't fair to them," he said. "I'd rather do what's right than be popular and I don't want this debt pushed out, or not balancing of the books, pushed out to another council, another mayor and another generation. I don't think that's fair."

The mayor wants to see Garden Place revamped and says it should become a "high value" area similar to Fort Street in Auckland.

"We shouldn't be living in a city and putting up with a city that doesn't work. This one area, which is the centre of our city, is the heart of our city.

"This is our central square, it needs some life and people need to feel comfortable in there."

Public transport is also on the priority list with $220m being spent upgrading transport systems including roads, footpaths and cycleways.

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