Today is Gary Kircher’s birthday. He turns 62. And by the end of today (Saturday) the district will probably have a good idea who will be following in his footsteps as Waitaki Mayor.

In his 21 years of serving the Waitaki District (9 as a councillor and 12 as mayor), Gary has always been available to his community.

He doesn’t shy away from the difficult topics, he always fronts up - whether to the media, on social media or in person, and he does his best to provide an honest and individual answer.

He is consistently in attendance at every community event, family fun day, or official opening.

Nobody can accuse this man of not doing his job. He has given his all to this region and the people who live here. 

In his valedictory speech given at council last week, Gary mentioned he hopes to be remembered not just for the outcomes of his tenure, but also the intent - for caring deeply and working hard - and I think nobody can argue with that.

Gary kindly sat down with the Waitaki App this week to talk about his highs and lows during time as mayor, and what the future holds.

Gary Kircher became an elected member of Waitaki District Council in 2001, but after nine years juggling his work as a councillor and trying to earn a living, decided he needed to go all-in and run for mayor, or move on.

“I couldn't afford to keep doing it, as a committed councillor and running a business . . . because, you know, I was throwing myself at as much as I could do.”

He ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2010, and thought his time with the council was up, but three years later, in 2013, he was convinced to run again, and the rest is history.

Waitaki District Council in 2013. Photo: Supplied

Every time another three-year term rolled around, he decided he had another one in him - until he got to this one.

“It's partly time for a change for me, but also, I'm at an age where I can go and do something else for a while before I retire, and so that played a part in that as well.”

And also, this term has taken its toll. 

While 2019-2022 was a challenging time, due to the complexities of Covid and reforms from the Labour government “really hitting home”, as a country we felt “fairly united”, he says.

“I think the challenge in this last term has been, you know, the whole change of attitude, and that we are a divided country. Politics is far more polarised . . . It just makes it more challenging than it was before.” 

The lack of affordability across the country, and the pile-on effect of several issues is quite understandably making people angry and looking for easy targets, he says.

“And councils are easy targets.

“The Government, they've been pretty unfair, I think . . . just pointing finger and putting all councils together in a very negative group. The reality is the country's only going to really improve when it starts working together. 

“We all have to play our part to actually get to where we need to be in, in a much better place economically, but also socially.”

Gary V Mike Mavor in Ōamaru's first Fight For Life Hospice fundraiser. Photo: Supplied/Rebecca Ryan

Highs

Some of the highs of Gary’s time as mayor have been working with community organisations.

He believes one of the council’s strengths is its role as an “enabler”, and during his time as mayor, something he has done as well as he can to work with community groups and individuals, helping them achieve their goals, which brings positives for the community. 

He singles out the Mayors’ Taskforce for Jobs, a nation-wide initiative, funded by the Ministry of Social Development.

The programme has rural mayors connecting with rangatahi aged between 16 and 24, who are not engaged in education or employment, and helping set them onto career pathways with local businesses.

Gary says the programme has been exceeding expectations since it began in the Waitaki five years ago.

More than 200 young people and businesses have been paired up, often resulting in apprenticeships and long-term employment for the participants.

“It's life been life changing for young people, and helps them be real positive contributors to society and have better lives.” 

The model has worked so well because it is about sharing the risk and not just lumping it all on the employer. 

“But the employers - I know a good number of them have gone the extra mile to make it work.”

Seeing the success of the Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail, which was in the initial stages in Gary’s final year as a councillor and further developed during his time as mayor, is also something he’s proud of. 

“Just having, keeping, supporting that, seeing it happen,” he says.

Storytime at an Anzac Day event. Photo: Supplied

The construction of Observatory Village Lifecare (which currently provides 81 carebeds, 42 apartments, and 51 villas for the ageing population), has been another.

Both projects are not about the “bricks and mortar”, but the benefit to the people and communities, and making the Waitaki a more appealing place for people to visit and want to live.

“It's not what you build, it's what's going to result from it.” 

Challenges

Social media has been a double-edged sword for Gary during his mayoralty.

It’s been helpful, but also provides a platform for abuse.

“It's been a good tool for me to share information. It provides a forum where I can go on and I can just provide information, or clear things up.

“I know many times I'm not going to convince the person that I'm talking to when it's in a debate, but it's all of the people who read it and actually can see both sides of a discussion and make up their own mind.”

He has a methodology in dealing with pages which thrive on fueling conflict. He doesn’t follow them, but does go onto them regularly when he feels in the right mindset. Nine times out of ten, he thinks he gets it right.

“I apologise for those other times.”

Gary says local councils have “absolutely been a victim of flip-flopping” between political parties and central government reform.

“We’re heading in one direction, spending time and a hell of a lot of resource on going in that direction, only to be told, look, it's changing, and then having to invest a whole lot more money in going that new way, is not helping rates or affordability.”

He knows different political parties are not going to agree on everything, but the more common ground they can find, the smaller the repercussions of change.

Breaking ground before the build of the Network Waitaki Event Centre begins. Photo: Supplied

Lake Ōhau Village fire

One event that has left a lasting impact on the mayor, is the Lake Ōhau fire of October 2020. Almost exactly five years ago.

The fire began from a power line fault and, fanned by severe winds, swept through the Lake Ōhau Village, destroying 48 homes and buildings and damaging 5043ha of land.

It took nine days for 11 helicopters and more than 100 people to extinguish - a massive event that put the area’s emergency systems to the test.

The recovery has been going on for years with the level of destruction confronting for everyone involved, even those who didn't suffer major damage, he says.

For the mayor, it was a challenge but a privilege to lead the district through that time, and be there for people.

“Just have them know you've got their back and that you do care.”

He feels like part of the Ōhau community now, he says.

“I know a few people in most parts of the district, but you know, now I've got friendships.” 

Gary acknowledges he is “handing over the reins” during a tumultuous time for council.

He was out-voted when it came to deciding how the council moves forward with costly controversial water reforms, and will not be a part of dealing with the fall-out.

“I did my bit to try and get at least the water situation more stable, but the reality is we haven't had that stability for quite some time now because of all the external pressures.

“Transformation has been part of that too, not putting that down, it's just that it's caused disruption, or further disruption in an already disruptive time.”

Stone-sawing as part of the Victorian Heritage Celebrations. Photo: Supplied

Overall, he feels like the council has done “really good things” for the district. 

“People get critical about the debt situation, but we've actually got some really good improvements in our infrastructure . . . “

Investments in things such as the cycle trail, and the Ōamaru Harbour and Holmes Wharf redevelopment are areas where the value will be long-lasting. 

“They might be seen by some as nice to haves, but equally, most of the money's gone on the core services, and there's only been a small proportion that's gone on these other things, but they are things which will add value to community and to people's lives and those are the things that make a difference as to where whether someone wants to live in a place or not. 

“I’ve said a number of times, there's not a lot of people that move somewhere because they've got a really nice sewerage system.”

He agrees they might move away if there isn’t.

To the next mayor, who will potentially not have recent council experience, he advises getting up to speed on everything going on as quickly as possible.

“Gain that knowledge as quickly as possible, you know? Whether they're coming from a very low level of understanding or from a reasonable level . . . things have moved along since even three years ago.

Gary pouring pints at a community event. Photo: Supplied

“The more they can be on top of things, the better are the decisions that they can make and the direction they can give. There's no miracle answer . . . there's just a lot of hard work.”

Now he is staring down the barrel of a lot of spare time, Gary says he can finally attend to the “to-do” list of jobs around home, his wife Kerry has had accumulating. 

He will be taking a bit of a break, and will continue in governance roles on the Waitaki Power Trust and at Observatory Village.

He also plans to spend more time with his family who he acknowledges for their support.

He is especially grateful to Kerry, who is “very reluctant about being called mayoress”, but has been incredibly important to his ability to do his job.

“For being with me and, and supporting me . . . you know, I come home to her.

“All of that family support's been just really critical to being able to do what I've been able to do, and being able to do it for as long as they have.”

He pays tribute to the council staff members who don’t always get the thanks they deserve.

“They all get a hard time. They all get bundled in together, and a lot of unfair things are said about them, but they're all there to do good things for the community.

“You know, we've got some absolutely dedicated people who work long hours and very hard to deliver good things.

“So yeah, just a big thank you to them for what they do. And the councillors, again, you know, none of them stand for the glory of it, or fun. There isn’t much.

“It is, however, a lot of hard work to do it well, and everyone around that table is doing their best to do it well.”

The 2022 Waitaki District Councillors. Photo: Supplied