I am grateful to Deputy Mayor Lucas for negotiating with Mayor Barker for a position of actual responsibility for me, with Chair of Finance and Performance agreed as my minimum acceptable role.

It was a week later that Mayor Barker finally sent me an email asking me to consider new roles that would allow me to contribute significantly to Council decision-making and Dunedin’s development.

Although these were not the roles of Chair of Finance and Chair of Heritage Fund that I had requested, Co-Chair of Finance with DM Lucas and Portfolio Lead of Council Companies were roles that I believe will allow me to contribute my long Council and business experience to help achieve better results from our Companies and ensure transparency of Finance issues.