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 Jacob Ton­er, run­ning inde­pen­dent­ly for North­ern Ward.

  1. What should be the city council’s role in help­ing home­less peo­ple and beg­gars? 
    Coun­cil should work in part­ner­ship with cen­tral gov­ern­ment and com­mu­ni­ty organ­i­sa­tions to pro­vide social hous­ing, com­bat pub­lic dis­or­der, and pro­vide social oppor­tu­ni­ties (e.g. com­mu­ni­ty cen­tres).
  2. What would you do to make Welling­ton more cycle and pedes­tri­an friend­ly? 
    Sup­port inte­grat­ed cycle­ways rather than cur­rent dis­con­nect­ed sec­tions.  Mobilise the over­whelm­ing com­mu­ni­ty sup­port for safer options for cyclists!
  3. How do you think traf­fic flow to the hos­pi­tal and air­port should be improved? 
    Sen­si­ble mix of pub­lic and pri­vate trans­port solu­tions. Sec­ond Mt Vic tun­nel a must. Should make use of cen­tral gov­ern­ment funds when offered.
  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? 
    Nes­tled between the hills and sea, Welling­ton has beau­ti­ful nat­ur­al scenery. Res­i­dents are inno­v­a­tive, our IT and cre­ative indus­tries need sup­port to flour­ish fur­ther.
  5. What will YOU do to get more invest­ment, busi­ness­es, and busi­ness con­fi­dence in Welling­ton? 
    Keep rates under con­trol so we don’t price busi­ness­es and peo­ple out of the city. Remove road­blocks sti­fling growth.
  6. What does Welling­ton need more of, and what does Welling­ton need less of? 
    More events, more pub­lic art, more diver­si­ty, more cycle­ways, less graf­fi­ti, less con­ges­tion.
  7. What would your city coun­cil pro­vide for chil­dren and young peo­ple? 
    Green recre­ation spaces and sports grounds, high qual­i­ty events (lets sup­port the Cuba St Car­ni­val), sup­port­ed Com­mu­ni­ty Cen­tres.
  8. What steps would you take to encour­age civic engage­ment?
    Greater use of mod­ern engage­ment tools like Face­book and Twit­ter. I’ll endeav­our to be an acces­si­ble rep­re­sen­ta­tive.
  9. Tell us about your per­son­al earth­quake plan / What’s unusu­al about your earth­quake kit?
    Duck, cov­er, hold! I have gum­my bears in my kit – high ener­gy and might lift my spir­its in a quake too!
  10. Why should we vote for you?
    I will ensure the coun­cil focuss­es on get­ting the basics right; 21st cen­tu­ry trans­porta­tion, afford­able rates, resilience against risks, cap­i­tal class infra­struc­ture, graf­fi­ti con­trol.
  11. Where can we find out more about what you stand for?
    www.jacobtoner.com, Twitter: @JacobToner1, Face­book: https://www.facebook.com/JacobToner1ForNorthernWard