Melanie Tavendale has made it official. She wants to be the next Waitaki mayor.

The North Otago business owner and mother of two is the first to throw her hat into the ring for the upcoming October local body elections.

Mel became a Waitaki District Councillor in 2013, and was deputy to Mayor Gary Kircher for two terms from 2016. She stepped away from both roles in 2022.

Gary is yet to say whether he will be standing for his fifth term, after he too was elected in 2013.

Mel says running for mayor has been on her radar since she decided to take a breather at the last election, and now the time is right.

“My kids are at a great age and are really supportive. I love the idea of the role model side of things for my kids growing up, as to what they can achieve.

“And I think in a community sense, I just get the feeling that our relationships could be stronger and we could be doing things just a little bit differently.”

Josephine (Josie) is 13 and in her first year at St Kevin’s College, and Declan is 11 and goes to Weston School. Mel co-owns Hub & Sprocket Cycles with her husband Steve and the family live in Kakanui.

If she becomes mayor, Mel wants to see more open dialogue around the council table, and more people contribute to the decisions being made.

“I'd like to see a really open, supportive environment where the leader makes it easy for everybody else to have their say,” she says. 

Due to her previous experience working within the council framework, she has realistic expectations of what she can achieve in the position.

“You understand how it works, and you understand how hard change really is, and that just changing one person at a time does not magically make everyone get it.

“I'm realistic in that respect, but I also think building really strong relationships and people feeling open to challenging - respectful challenging, it can change the whole trajectory of things. You've got to start somewhere.”

Mel says it has been good to have a break from local government, and in that time, she has gained a new perspective as a small business owner, and being back in the community “looking in from the outside”.

“I think you always hear a lot about the challenges within the business community and the role council could play in those. 

“It's not until you go and put your own money on the line and things, that you really do know what they're dealing with. And the more experience you get in any field I think makes you better at understanding where people are coming from.” 

Taking a term off has helped Mel reignite her passion for serving the community she lives in, and she is particularly interested in ensuring clearer communication from the council.

“I want us to be less scared of talking to the community about things. I think sometimes we're so worried about over-massaging the message in case we get anything wrong, that we forget to just talk. 

“It is a hard thing to do . . . but you need to keep remembering what you're doing, what you're there for.”

Mel says she had a “good working relationship” with council chief executive Alex Parmley and would be happy to work with him again.

She admits it is going to be a challenge to step back into the spotlight again, and put herself “out there” in the lead-up to the election.

“That's probably the thing that puts me out of my comfort zone the most.”

But she is also excited for the chance to immerse herself in all things council again.

“I'm looking forward to testing the brain again and getting back out there and listening to what people want.

“I'm not gonna say I've got all the answers because I don't, but I think if you build a really good team around you, then the conversations bring about the right answers anyway.”