Veteran Waipā councillor Clare St Pierre has announced her candidacy for mayor, driven by what she calls “12 years of financial frustration” and two consecutive years of steep rate increases.
Clare St Pierre is proud of her association with conservation work around mounts Pirongia and Maungatautari. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
The 64-year-old Pirongia resident is the third to enter the race after incumbent Susan O’Regan and Mike Pettit but unlike her opponents, she is also standing for council, aiming for a fifth term.
Cambridge News 22 May 2025
“We’re blocked from trying new tools,” she says. “As mayor, I’d finally have the influence to change that.”
St Pierre’s campaign centres on her long-standing concerns about Waipā’s financial management.
She has repeatedly advocated for alternative funding strategies – such as revenue bonds and asset partnerships – but says her proposals have been consistently sidelined.
“At the start of this Long Term Plan process I wanted to actually focus on fixing the finances and look at new tools like revenue bonds.”
Another suggestion was to refinance existing debt so it does not appear on the balance sheet and to partner with capital investors who could build assets for the council to lease instead of own.
Clare St Pierre
The change would not just fix the books but make Waipā more liveable and affordable, she says.
St Pierre says while there was some agreement, nothing happened, and her frustration grew.
She brings a strong financial and governance background to her campaign.
Born and raised on a dairy farm in Te Rore, she attended Sacred Heart Girls College in Hamilton before graduating from Massey University with a first-class honours in Business Studies.
Her postgraduate work focused on environmental management, sustainability, and cross-sector collaboration.
She spent a decade at the ANZ Bank, became an associate of the Bankers’ Institute of New Zealand and is now a chartered member of the NZ Institute of Directors.
A mother of six, she entered local politics in 2013 at the encouragement of former councillor Diane Sharp.
St Pierre’s frustration has grown in recent years, particularly with the council’s reluctance to explore alternative financial strategies. Last year, Waipā residents faced a 14.8 per cent rate increase. Another 15.5 per cent hike is set for July 1.
“We’re blocked from trying these new tools and we have this lack of transparency. I feel really frustrated because I feel the rates are quite a lot higher than they need to be because there’s been a reluctance to explore these other options.”
She argues that financial instruments like bonds and asset securitisation – common overseas – could help reduce the burden on ratepayers. But as a councillor, she says she lacks the influence to push these ideas forward.
“I feel with the mayoral role, you’ve got more influence.”
The latest Long-Term Plan has no community projects in it and St Pierre says that is disappointing given no effort had been made to explore any other funding options. Projects like the Cambridge Library could go ahead with the right funding partner.
Her decision to run is not a slight on O’Regan who St Pierre acknowledges has done a good job in her first term and has excellent contacts in Wellington.
“I’d love to have some great conversations with capital partners, so people in the community, stakeholders, you know larger players who care about Waipā and would be really keen to invest in some way.”
Growth is part of the blame but that is not being managed in a way which would give it more visibility to councillors. St Pierre says she has been denied access to standard managerial performance reporting within each of the district’s growth cells.
“What gets measured, gets managed,” she says.
“We can have a conversation with developers, let them know the issues that we’re facing because we’ve got all that debt there. Can we find a way to work things out? Could we help then to be able to move their projects forward, but we (councillors) don’t have any of that information.”
Frustration shows on Pirongia-Kakepuku councillor Clare St Pierre’s face in the Waipā council chambers. Photo: Benjamin Wilson.
A happier time in council chambers, Pirongia-Kakepuku ward councillors Clare St Pierre, centre, with outgoing councillors Bruce Thomas, right, and deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk. Photo: Benjamin Wilson.
