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Karl Tiefenbacher standing as independent candidate for mayoralty
News release from Karl Tiefenbacher
Karl Tiefenbacher is to stand as an independent candidate in the Wellington City Council’s mayoral election, and as a councillor for Motukairangi/Eastern General Ward.
Wellington has expensive challenges ahead. As a local business owner, Karl understands it’s essential to invest wisely, with responsible and affordable decisions.
“As a lifelong resident of Wellington, I have seen firsthand the growing challenges that face Wellington and this city’s incredible potential. Our city doesn’t need more promises. It needs action. As an independent, I’m not here to play politics or push a party line. I’m here to ‘pay it forward’ — by helping the rate payers, renters, civic leaders of today and tomorrow. As your champion, we will get the basics right – rebuilding our foundations for an affordable and vibrant Wellington that we can all be proud of.”
Karl will achieve this by focusing on three core priorities:
1. Changing the culture of the council so that it works for all Wellingtonians and not on its own agendas;
2. Keeping rates down so people can afford to enjoy life;
3. Stopping wasteful spending and getting the basics done properly.
Karl believes that to achieve these priorities, it requires a leader who will guide the new council toward:
• Changing its culture to one that respects ratepayers’ money and views;
• Ensures value for every dollar spent;
• Collaborates with the community and is transparent with everything it does.
With his collaborative leadership style, Karl will work on behalf of all Wellingtonians to restore trust in the city’s leadership and lead the actions needed to deliver real results. He will be proactive, listen, then act with integrity. As mayor, Karl’s leadership style will reflect his core values:
– Responsive – Actively listens and takes timely action.
– Honesty – Leads with transparency and integrity.
– Determined – Committed to goals despite challenges, driving lasting impact.
– Collaborative – Working together with the community to drive meaningful change.
Karl Tiefenbacher Biography:
Karl is deeply committed to Wellington where he was born, raised and educated. Over 20 years ago, Karl started his own business, Kaffee Eis, growing it with his talented team into the well-loved business it is today.
“I am totally invested in Wellington and our future, and I care deeply about the future of our city and the people that call it home. I grew up here, it’s where my family lives. Everything I love is in Wellington!”
Karl went to primary school in Te Aro, then attended Wellington College; his first job was a paper round in Aro Valley. After leaving school he had a successful career in the finance sector for 18 years, before setting up Kaffee Eis.
“Running my own business means I understand it’s essential to make informed and affordable decisions. As an independent, I’ll be free to work with all councillors in the best interests of all Wellingtonians. I want the Council to focus on managing infrastructure, restoring the vibrancy in our city, and (importantly) spending our rates prudently.”
Good on Karl. But getting some council experience under the belt (councilor) is probably the right step. Look how far Tory Whanau is/was out of her depth.
A bigger issue, there are now 7 (I think) people with their hats in the ring running for mayor. I bet we aren’t finished yet, this is seriously going to dilute the vote. Vote sensibly!
And here we see the genesis of Tory’s re-election campaign.
Karl, Ray Chung and other moderate / centre / right leaning candidates split the vote and Tory slides on through.
I will probably vote for Karl as a councillor, but I believe someone with at least some hands on experience of how council operates is needed for the mayoralty.
The left play the Local Government game much better in this respect.
Ray Chung for mayor. Because he has been frequently speaking out as a councillor against some of the ideologically-driven policies of the current council. Actions speak louder than words.
At last someone with business experience standing in the Eastern Ward, although a term as Councillor first would be my advice also. East of the city is growing with an expanding airport, Sir Peter Jackson projects and new hospitality/small business venues and it will need lots of attention.
More independent candidates needed in all Wards so if the Mayoral vote gets split too much and Tory gets in again, her influence will be diluted. But good on you Karl, it’s a yes from me for Councillor.
Robb and @MattyB – there isn’t any issue with “splitting the vote” under the STV system. Just put #1 next to your top preferred candidate, #2 next to the candidate that is your second preference and so on. If your first choice doesn’t get in, your vote is then transferred to your second choice, so it’s not a wasted vote. The key is to NOT put ANYTHING next to candidates who you couldn’t tolerate.
I’m really pleased to see Karl stand. His platform is eminently sensible. Bring it on!
Yes vote for Karl, thank goodness someone with sound logic and a decent moral core for the people of Wellington.
Matty B, There is no need for vote splitting with STV. You get to rank as many candidates as you like; if one fails, your vote is transferred to the next one, and so on…
To both Robb and Matty B. This development will not “seriously dilute” or split the centre-right vote. That is FPP thinking.
If you vote for a candidate who is excluded from the count, your vote will be transferred to your second choice, and so on. As long as there are more centre-right (CR) or Right (R) voters than there are centre-left or Left voters, whose votes will accumulate upon the most popular CR or R candidate, then that most popular candidate will win.
First learn to row before you try to steer Karl. I say that as a well-wisher.
FrustratedRatepayer, yup I get that. Shame a lot of voters feel they have to list all candidates from 1 to whatever the list contains. As you say, just vote for who you like!
Prefer that the Mayor had some experience in the Council. As witnessed with Tory it’s a tough job if you don’t know your way around the Council and how to get Officers working with you and not pursuing their own agendas. Having said that, the Council is sadly bereft of leaders who would make a good Mayor so I think Karl has a good shot. A solid professional career before setting up a successful and respected business is a good basis for a run at Mayor; being a proud Wellingtonian with a sensible platform should stand him in good stead. The Council needs a change of direction with a focus on delivering core services and a better late than never respect for the ratepayers’ views and wallets.
There are no detailed plans of how to change culture, how to bring rates down and how to reduce the waste. I imagine that many candidates will have similar slogans. The missing part of the puzzle is “how”.
Great to see you standing out East Karl. This region is the powerhouse of Wellington’s economy and deserves far more able representation around the Council table than it has had. Personally, I would favour the whole Peninsula breaking away, figuratively and literally, from Wellington.
People standing for Mayor cannot make policy promises. As the Mayor has one vote, like every other councillor, they can achieve only what they can lead the majority of other councillors to vote for. What mayoral candidates can do is tell us how they will build consensus on the council and broadly the direction they would like the consensus to take. My recommendation to everyone standing for council is first find out the basics of how local government works.
Somebody must explain the STV thing for the rest of us.. For Mayor, as I understand it, if we have (let’s say) Tory having got to 50% with Ray and Karl splitting the vote at 24% each, then we’re all done and it’s another 3 years of Tory?
I think for now Karl that you would be better served to run for council. Get some experience about the machinations of local government and go from there. We have see all seen the failings of those who go straight into a Mayoralty without that local government experience. All the best.
Margaret Nixon is right: the mayor has just one vote (plus a casting vote in the event of a tie at full Council meetings). The mayor needs to be persuasive, or be fortunate enough to have a majority of like-minded councillors.
We haven’t had a collegiate council since Justin Lester’s term as mayor (2016-19). Whether by good luck or good leadership (in fact a bit of both) Justin was generally able to have councillors pulling in the same direction. Andy Foster, who followed him, wasn’t so blessed, on either count.
However, the mayor does have one ace up their sleeve: they appoint the deputy mayor and assign the committee chair roles. These are sought after by councillors, especially those with eventual mayoral or parliamentary ambition or those simply wanting the extra $20,000. You won’t find much dissent of mayoral policies by deputy mayors or committee chairs or even deputy chairs, who together account for a significant number of councillors.
Chris Calvi-Freeman: Yes, BUT the council has a veto over the deputy mayor and Committees, so the Mayor needs to have majority support for their appointments. The Council retains the ability to:
(a) remove a deputy mayor appointed by the mayor;
(b) discharge or reconstitute a committee established by the mayor; and
(c) discharge a committee chairperson who has been appointed by the mayor.
Good Luck to Karl, would be good to have a Mayor who has real world commercial experience over a Mayor who thinks there is an endless supply of money from rates.
I loved the exchange between Chris Calvi-Freeman and Greenwelly and I hope all mayoral candidates read it and learn from it. Buying councillors with the currency of appointments is fine but don’t forget to think of something to buy the other councillors you need for a majority. Your support for one of their pet policies is an example. The main lesson, though, is to drop your dreams and schemes on the doorstep before opening the door labelled politics.
Still Ray Chung for Mayor, in my opinion. I’d really like Karl Tiefenbacher to be on the Council, but as a Councillor first. I think that it’d be useful for him to have at least a term as a Councillor, before he runs for the mayoralty.
Still Ray Chung for Mayor, in my opinion.
I’d really like Karl Tiefenbacher to be on Council, but as a Councillor first. I think that it’d be useful for him to have at least a term as a Councillor, before he runs for the mayoralty.
Must not split the vote. STV for a single position is the first to 50%, simple as that.
Karl should align himself with the best Mayor ever, Kerry Prendergast (and Co). If she/they would agree, what a valuable person she would be to mentor him.
Kerry Prendergast used to mentor our present mayor, Tory Whanau apparently. Now look what’s happened.
Anyway Kerry’s National Party. Do we want that in Wellington?
Does Karl want to be aligned with that?
He’s said he’s an independent candidate, so no need to ask that question. (Or make that suggestion.)
Penelope. There is some commentary from the United States which suggests that by voting the way we would for central government in local government is effectively shooting ourselves in the foot. I have paraphrased it to reflect the New Zealand situation.
“We know almost nothing about … local representatives and instead base (our) votes … on the national political climate. As a result, the leading determinant of (who wins)local elections is which party won that (council area) in national elections. This pervasive (nationalisation) of local elections means that (local government) performance has little connection to electoral outcomes. The collapse of local media has made matters worse. When local newspapers fold, voters become even less informed about … local issues. Bad governance at … local level is not punished, meaning that the incentives for officials to do better are limited.”
There is a “disconnect between governance and electoral accountability.”
Locally we need to start voting for people who we believe have the skills to address the basic local infrastructural issues. They can be any colour of the rainbow, or indeed polka dotted, so far as I am concerned.
Greenwelly – you’ve correctly pointed out the Council’s power of veto over the Mayor’s appointments of Deputy Mayor and Committee Chairs. To the best of my knowledge, these powers haven’t been used in living memory. Yes, they are there, and a majority of disaffected councillors could threaten to use them, but we’ve yet to see an actual schism.
bp. Under STV, the candidate for mayor who gets to 50% of all votes wins. Using your example: if voters ranked Karl and Ray 1st and 2nd in either order, eg each getting 24% first preference with the other being the second preference, then either would still need 2% from other eliminated candidates to get to 50%. There’s an explanation here that makes sense to me. As the article says “Candidates for the mayoralty have to gain support across the spectrum. This means that they need to win second, third, and even fourth preference support from voters who don’t initially vote for them.”
In the 2022 WCC election, counting went down to 7th preferences for mayor. There is some truth to saying the vote was split in 2022 as there were more votes for Andy Foster, Ray Chung and Paul Eagle collectively in the 6th iteration but when Ray dropped out, just over 2000 of his votes transferred to Tory – enabling her to win. The lesson is voters should never give a preference to a candidate they do not want to elect.
Thanks Julienz. Very useful comments. Have put them on the fridge door so I know what they are doing come election time. Just need another two new candidates in the Eastern Ward and I will rest easy.