"If re-elected, I will spend the first two and a half years working through the changes we are facing and seeing long-term projects to fruition," he said.
"For the last six months of the term, I want to open my door to anyone who has aspirations to be the next mayor. It helps to make sense of things and follow the budget lines before you take on the role and I'm glad I had the opportunity to do that."
McDouall said it was a complex role and local bodies will be facing challenges with central government reforms to resource management, water infrastructure, and the Future for Local Government Review all happening during the next term.
"It will be a very challenging time for someone without local government experience to lead a council."
McDouall said he wants to ensure effective communication with the Government.
"We need to make sure our local voice is strong and that we are able to lead the changes in our community rather than having them imposed on us."
McDouall said over his two terms as mayor, he had worked with a council made up of individuals who often had "disparate views" and he credits them all for working collaboratively despite their differences.
There will be at least four new councillors at the table after the election as incumbents Hadleigh Reid, Graeme Young and Brent Crossan have opted not to stand and Alan Taylor is seeking election to Horizons Regional Council.
"New councillors will bring new energy and individual strengths," said McDouall.
"There are some good candidates who are very invested in Whanganui's wellbeing."
McDouall said while most local businesses had weathered the impacts of the pandemic remarkably well, he wished to acknowledge that some had not.
"The council will need to look at supporting recovery and growth of the local economy over the next term."
McDouall said voters had been expressing a lot of localised concerns in the lead-up to the elections and those would also need to be addressed alongside the "big picture" issues.
"People have concerns about trees, dogs, boy racers in their streets. Those things are important when they are affecting the quality of life."
Some incumbent councillors are endorsing candidate Andrew Tripe as Whanganui's next mayor and have said McDouall showed a lack of transparency in signing a Heads of Agreement on the Three Waters reforms in his capacity as vice-president of the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) national council.
McDouall said there was no lack of transparency and that his LGNZ role is a separate responsibility.
"LGNZ represents the national interests of local government and the agreement on Three Waters affords protection against privatisation and continuity of employment for local workforces among other things," he said.
He said the agreement signed in July 2021 does not prevent individual local authorities from opposing the reforms and he has continued to voice his opposition on behalf of the Whanganui District Council.
McDouall said he is proud to look back to 2014 when economist Shamubeel Eaqub labelled Whanganui a "zombie town" and said the city needed to reinvent itself if it wanted to maintain a sound economy.
"Soon after we started thriving and have continued to thrive," he said.
"The downside of that has been that population growth has caused a housing shortage."
McDouall said underutilised council-owned sites had been investigated for social housing potential and central government support was needed to enable partnerships with social service and iwi groups to provide and support housing.
"We have to be careful not to subsidise government inaction," he said.
"What we can do is keep looking for opportunities and pulling the levers that we can."
McDouall said if re-elected he wants to see the port development completed, an increase in the council's pensioner housing stock and the planting of a million more native trees to help mitigate the effects of climate change by the end of 2025.
