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.

When we con­tact­ed can­di­dates with our ques­tions, we asked them to email a spe­cif­ic email address that all the ‘ista could access so that answers could be post­ed faster. This can­di­date didn’t use that email address. Hence the late post­ing.

Here’s Steve Pre­ston who is run­ning inde­pen­dent­ly in Lambton Ward.

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

The Coun­cil should active­ly encour­age and sup­port social sup­port ini­tia­tives that pro­vide for con­stituents in the low­er socio-eco­nom­ic sec­tor of our local com­mu­ni­ty.

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

More and eas­i­er options for, and bet­ter qual­i­ty of, pub­lic trans­port; Wider foot­paths; more cycle lanes; and bet­ter edu­ca­tion of motorists, cyclists and pedes­tri­ans.

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

Increase bus pri­or­i­ty, ser­vice and qual­i­ty; make pub­lic trans­port eas­i­er; pro­vide more alter­na­tive pub­lic trans­port oppor­tu­ni­ties; and, encour­age high­er util­i­sa­tion of these options.

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?

Welling­ton already is much more than that! Welling­ton, the city with a soul – the peo­ple, envi­ron­ment, and oppor­tu­ni­ties make Welling­ton the best city in NZ.

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

I strong­ly sup­port the liv­ing wage con­cept; agree with air­port exten­sion plans in prin­ci­ple; and would proac­tive­ly work to sup­port growth in busi­ness oppor­tu­ni­ties.

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

Welling­ton needs more pos­i­tive action and less wind and words. More focus on sus­tain­abil­i­ty and social and envi­ron­men­tal sup­port and less divi­sive­ness.

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

Stronger and more avail­able library ser­vices; recre­ation­al facil­i­ties that encour­age growth and devel­op­ment; wider options in com­mu­ni­ty edu­ca­tion; and, sup­port of student/youth pub­lic trans­port fares.

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

Pro­vide more oppor­tu­ni­ties for peo­ple to feel heard and have their mes­sages act­ed upon; devel­op a wider plat­form for com­mu­ni­ty edu­ca­tion and dis­sem­i­na­tion of infor­ma­tion.

9. Tell us about your per­son­al earth­quake plan / What’s unusu­al about your earth­quake kit?

I am well pre­pared with an earth­quake kit which includes cat food for my cat… I believe that earth­quake strength­en­ing is a pri­or­i­ty in Welling­ton.

10. Why should we vote for you?

I care about the city, peo­ple and envi­ron­ment and have the com­mu­ni­ca­tion and lead­er­ship skills to ensure your voic­es aren’t just heard, but act­ed upon.

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

Web­site: http://preston4lambton.co.nz
Face­book: http://www.facebook.com/preston4lambton
Twit­ter: http://twitter.com/Preston4Lambton
LinkedIn: http://nz.linkedin.com/pub/stephen-preston/22/a71/324