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