Tauranga City Council is having its first election since 2019 after four years under a commission's governance. Here's a brief history of what happened. Video / Alex Cairns
If Olympian and financial adviser Mahé Drysdale is successful in Tauranga’s election this year, he will become mayor of a city he does not live in.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist and five-time world rowing champion said he had been considering politics since retiring from rowing in 2021 and became aware of the election in Tauranga, where he grew up, in February.
The Bay of Plenty Times reported he was considering standing a month before Drysdale confirmed last Sunday that he would seek the mayoralty.
Drysdale lives in Cambridge with wife Juliette and their children aged 4, 7, and 9. In recent years he has spent a couple of days a week in Tauranga for work with Forsyth Barr Investment Services. The prospect of moving or commuting was partly why his announcement took so long, he said.
“If I was successful in the election, we would continue living in Cambridge until the end of the year and then [see] how that’s going, and make a decision then as to whether [moving] would work,” he said.
Kiwi Olympian Mahé Drysdale is running for mayor of Tauranga in the 2024 local body election. Photo / Alex Cairns
Drysdale planned to stay with his Mount Maunganui-based mother when he was in Tauranga during the first six months, if elected in July. His brother and sister also lived locally.
Drysdale said potential criticism of his aspiration to be mayor of a city he did not live in was “completely understandable”. He counters that he knows the city “very well”.
“Tauranga is very much in my blood. Although I haven’t lived here for 22-odd years, I’m still very passionate about the city. I love it, being where I grew up.”
He would not reveal who approached him about running for the mayoralty, to “respect their confidence”.
Drysdale is the grandson of the late former mayor and business magnate, Sir Bob Owens. His uncle, Sir Bob’s son Doug Owens, is also among mayoral candidates.
Mahe Drysdale celebrates gold at the 2012 Olympics. Photo / Brett Phibbs
On Wednesday Drysdale was the guest speaker at an Urban Task Force members-only event launching its Love Tauranga campaign. The Urban Task Force represents various members of the property sector.
Asked prior to the event what his connection was to Love Tauranga, Drysdale said he had talked to them about “how we need to do a better job of promoting” Tauranga. He said he agreed “that we should love our city”.
Love Tauranga spokeswoman Vicky Williamson said the campaign was about encouraging “our city into a positive mindset” and hoped all candidates would love Tauranga. She said Drysdale’s election campaign was independent of the Urban Task Force.
Drysdale told the Bay of Plenty Times challenges such as housing and infrastructure needed addressing and he said he wanted to “make it easier for people to build houses”.
“Obviously, spending money responsibly is very much what I believe in with my accountancy background – getting value for money.”
Mahé Drysdale says he wants to make Tauranga better for future generations. Photo / Alex Cairns
Drysdale said his vision was to “make Tauranga better for future generations”.
“That’s very much the key for me. What that plan is and what those decisions are, I can’t right now say ‘This is what I’m going to deliver’ because I can’t without the other nine people around the table and what the community ultimately wants.
“I very much believe that the team of 10 is stronger than the individual. I can’t deliver anything by myself. We have to sit down together … see the bigger picture for Tauranga.”
Drysdale said he valued a range of views and encouraged healthy debate.
“I’m very confident that I can get the best out of people but it comes down to the ratepayers of Tauranga, the voters. You’ve got to get out there, select people who are actually going to get the best for the city by not bringing the negative.”
“I don’t have a huge ego. That’s one of the reasons I can be more successful. I can get in behind everyone and work as team. I’m also happy to be accountable.”
Making it easier to build houses in Tauranga is one of Mahé Drysdale's goals if he is successful in becoming mayor this election. Photo / George Novak
Drysdale said he envisaged Tauranga becoming an example to other cities of how to get things done.
He said he had attended “probably two” council meetings before, which he found “dry and mind-numbing” but this did not dampen his aspirations.
“I’m very naive in my understanding but, again, I think that has some advantage because I’m not going to be guided into ‘this is how it should be done because we’ve always done it that way’.”
Drysdale said he had always been interested in politics and considered it at a national level after rowing but could not see how he could make “a real difference to community”.
“Tauranga was a little bit left-field. I only became aware of the election at the end of February. It’s a very exciting opportunity for Tauranga, starting from scratch. Obviously, there are issues in the past but it’s about starting again. We are going to deliver something new and exciting for Tauranga,” he said.
Drysdale said he enjoyed his job as a financial adviser but “these opportunities don’t come up every day”.
“I know from my rowing career, it didn’t seem like a great idea to quit my job and go to Cambridge to go down the rowing route but, in hindsight, it was a fantastic idea,” he said.
“I’m excited by this. I will throw everything into it.”
Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.
