As the Christchurch mayoral race nears an end, so too does the tenure of incumbent Lianne Dalziel.
Dalziel has held office since 2013, guiding the city through three tumultuous terms. Here's a look back at her mayoralty.
Dalziel looks out over Christchurch and looks back at a tenure that lasted longer than intended.
"I literally thought it was a one-term role for me," Dalziel said.
It ended up being three terms - each emphatically won starting in 2013.
"I honestly felt that I could come in - that I could set things straight, as it were, and leave," she told Newshub.
But straightening out a city in ruins was always going to take time after the catastrophic earthquakes. Dalziel inherited a council at odds with its CEO and unable to issue consents.
"Well, the first term was such a shock, the $400 million hole in the budget, the signing up to the cost-sharing agreement - even though we didn't have our insurance settled."
It was her city to run but others had control.
"I found the council had been really significantly disempowered."
Christchurch had also been sold a dream.
"The blueprint had a number of anchor projects within it - that was to signal to the private sector that they were investing in the future of the city," she said.
"I remember someone saying to me, 'have they struck gold that they haven't told us about, have they struck oil off the coast because they seem to have all this money to spend'."
Since taking the job, many of those projects have been completed but one remains unfinished and largely unstarted.
"The previous council had made their commitment with central government to fund its share of the stadium and I wasn't going to be the mayor that would stand in the way."
Then, there were new crises and unthinkable tragedy.
"March 15 we had the terrorist attack on our city's mosques but the extraordinary response of our community, the way they came together to show their love, compassion and support, it's that that I'm always drawn back to when I think of that time."
Lianne Dalziel has felt her own loss too with husband Rob, who succumbed to illness in 2020. "It does mean that I just don't have that person to go home to to rail against what's going on and I miss that a lot. It is difficult without him by my side."
The incoming mayor will face unfinished business as Dalziel did with a different clean-up job.
"You don't have as much power as people seem to think that you have but what you do have is the power to convene and if the mayor calls a meeting then people come to it."
And in her time, Christchurch has had plenty to come together for.
