We’ve provided a set of ques­tions for the may­or­al and coun­cil­lor can­did­ates to answer. First 25 words to an answer get pos­ted. Check our 2013 Elec­tion cov­er­age for all responses as they come in.

Here’s Sarah Free for the East­ern Ward. Keep read­ing →

1.      What should be the city council’s role in help­ing home­less people and beg­gars?

Part­ner with City Mis­sion, Night Shel­ter, drug/alcohol and oth­er agen­cies to find hous­ing solu­tions and sup­port. Recog­nise some issues are not eas­ily solved.

2.      What would you do to make Wel­ling­ton more cycle and ped­es­tri­an friendly?

 “Cyc­ling cor­ridors” on selec­ted roads- cars dis­cour­aged, cyc­lists have pri­or­ity. More budget for cycle routes on main roads. Safer ped­es­tri­an cross­ings. Fix street light­ing.

 3.      How do you think traffic flow to the hos­pit­al and air­port should be improved?

Short-term: bus-pri­or­ity lanes, cheap­er bus fares, safer walk­ing and cyc­ling. Fre­quent, afford­able air­port bus to reduce tax­is. Long-term: wait­ing on out­comes for...

  4.      What are your views on the sug­ges­tion Wel­ling­ton needs to be “more than just Weta and Gov­ern­ment” – what do you think are Wellington’s strengths?

Stim­u­lat­ing envir­on­ment, cre­at­ive cul­ture, great food and amaz­ing people- Build on strengths in IT, edu­ca­tion, food and bever­ages, tour­ism; grow a niche man­u­fac­tur­ing base.

5.    What will YOU do to get more invest­ment, busi­nesses, and busi­ness con­fid­ence in Wel­ling­ton?

Attend loc­al busi­ness meet­ings, listen, com­mu­nic­ate, stream­line red tape for busi­nesses. Ensure infra­struc­ture upgrades meet require­ments, assist with net­work­ing and pro­mo­tion. Advoc­ate loc­al pur­chas­ing.

6.      What does Wel­ling­ton need more of, and what does Wel­ling­ton need less of?

More thriv­ing busi­nesses in empty sub­urb­an shops, more niche man­u­fac­tur­ing, more cycle-ways and walk­ways, more reas­ons for tour­ists ( Luge? Short-stay cara­van park?) Less …

 7.      What would your city coun­cil provide for chil­dren and young people?

Cheap­er bus fares for youth/families. Free lib­rar­ies, play­grounds  and stuff to do. Clean beaches and nat­ur­al envir­on­ment. Oppor­tun­it­ies for youth to show­case tal­ent.

8.      What steps would you take to encour­age civic engage­ment?

Keep com­munit­ies informed. Make meet­ing minutes easi­er to find online.  Pro­mote Loomio and online feed­back.  Invite rep­res­ent­at­ive com­munity groups to attend selec­ted coun­cil for­ums.

9.    Tell us about your per­son­al earth­quake plan / What’s unusu­al about your earth­quake kit? Plan: We all get home somehow…then check on neigh­bours. Earth­quake kit has water, food – the usu­al things. Most unusu­al thing- chook food!

10.   Why should we vote for you?

I do my home­work, and get things done. Sound judge­ment. Life exper­i­ence. Per­son­al skills. For fresh, pos­it­ive, pro-act­ive energy, please con­sider vot­ing me “1”

11. Where can we find out more about what you stand for?

Web: www.sarahfree.org.nz or www.vote.co.nz

Face­book: https://www.facebook.com/VoteSarah­FreeForEastern­Ward?ref=hl

Twit­ter: @sarahfreenz