He won his election to council on a coin-toss - now Glyn Lewers is bidding to become mayor.

The Frankton-based councillor today (Thursday June 2) announced his intention to stand for the top job at Queenstown Lakes District Council in the October elections.

Glyn joins former Labour Party general election candidate Jon Mitchell and Startup Queenstown Lakes CEO and former lawyer Olivia Wensley in throwing his hat in the ring.

Incumbent mayor Jim Boult is not seeking a third term.

The 44-year-old first-term councillor took his seat at the table three years ago. But, after a recount, he was tied on 2,183 votes with fellow candidate AJ Mason.

It needed a coin-toss to decide who would become the sixth Wakatipu ward seat councillor, and Lewers won after choosing heads.

He believes the council is such a complex organisation, it will need someone with local government governance experience in the mayoral seat.

"Now, more than ever, we need someone with experience and knowledge of how our money is spent, to lead our district through this unprecedented time,” he said.

"I bring an in-depth knowledge of council and I am keenly aware of the complex issues facing our tourism industry and how this affects our local economy. As a community volunteer, I’m also actively listening to our people and I understand the issues we all face day-to-day."

Satisfaction with the council and elected members has plummeted over the past three years, with its own Quality of Life survey showing a drop of 34 to 25 percent for the council itself and 33 to 19 percent for elected members.

Glyn said he understands the number of incumbent councillors intending to re-stand for council will be low – meaning there will be several new faces around the council table. He isn't seeking re-election as a councillor, instead putting all his energy into the mayoral campaign.

The structural engineer spent six years as a member of the Frankton Community Association, four of those as chair, and is also on the board of Destination Queenstown.

He believes that experience will stand him in good stead.

"Council has got an annual budget of approximately $450 million, and is delivering an ambitious 10-year plan worth $1.67 billion. In my corporate life as an engineer, I managed multi-million dollar budgets for complex infrastructure projects – from budgeting, forecasting, implementing through to delivering the results,” he said.

A father of two boys, aged nine and 13, he also volunteers as a rugby coach for Wakatipu High School – a continuation of his seven-year junior rugby coaching tenure with the Wakatipu Junior Rugby Club.

Local body elections will be held on October 8, 2022 and candidate nominations officially open on Friday July 15, 2022.