Queenstowners can grill mayoral hopefuls at two candidate forums this week.
Catalyst Trust’s Mayoral Candidate Forum will be held tomorrow from 6.30pm at Wakatipu High School, offering an opportunity for people to
raise district issues with four of the six mayoral candidates.
Glyn Lewers, Jon Mitchell, Neeta Shetty and Olivia Wensley will each present a prepared pitch, before former Mountain Scene editor David Williams, who now works for Newsroom, questions the candidates.
A second Q&A section, moderated by Williams and two WHS students, will be based on audience questions and input from students.
‘‘With two hours and four candidates, this is a chance to get beyond soundbites and marketing gloss to understand what each candidate would bring to the table as leader of our council and community,’’ Catalyst co-chair AJ Mason says.
The following night, Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce will then host the ‘Meet Your QLDC Mayoral and Council Candidates’ event at Queenstown Events Centre from 6pm.
Opening with a ‘speed-dating’ style Q&A, attendees will be able to question candidates standing in the Arrowtown-Kawarau and Queenstown-Whakatipu wards.
The mayoral candidates hit the stage about 7.15pm for a Q&A session, run by Colliers real estate agent Richie Heap and Scene editor Tracey Roxburgh.
Questions for candidates can be emailed to [email protected] before the event — the mayoral forum will be livestreamed here.
Chamber events and marketing manager Rachel Clifford says the forum’s about showcasing the candidates so the community can make informed decisions before voting in the local body election.
Both events are free — register for the Catalyst forum at bit.ly/3KOREaB and at bit.ly/3Qq9RMG for the Chamber forum.
