Could this man be the next lord mayor of Wollongong?Retired teacher Julius Kudrynski has been locked for decades in legal battles with Wollongong City Council over more than a dozen illegal structures in his backyard, most notably two large slippery dips.Now he has decided that if you can't beat 'em, take 'em over.Mr Kudrynski, 66, wants to wear the lord mayoral robes so he can cut rates by 50 per cent, stop ratepayers' money being spent on "white elephant" projects, and stop council "harassing" home owners such as himself."I've been pushed into it," he said.Mr Kudrynski gained notoriety in the late 1970s for his battles over a slippery dip.He said he became fed up with the council demanding development applications for any small work he wanted to do."My first illegal structure actually was when I got permission to build a swimming pool. Then when I applied for permission to build a fence around it I was refused."I asked for permission, I got it rejected, so I put it up. I used to put in a building application for everything. I was going to put in an application for a wheelbarrow in the garden. But I didn't do that."Mr Kudrynski was one of 12 candidates who nominated for the mayoral election, which will be held on September 3.With such a large field, observers have raised the possibility that the winner might be elected with just 10 per cent of the primary vote.The next week will see furious negotiations in a bid to secure the preference deals that may deliver victory - and the mayoral robes - to the winner.Mr Kudrynski said he wanted to cut rates by 50 per cent, and would start by cutting mayoral and councillor allowances in half. He said a "user-pays" scheme would save money. "Roads wouldn't be a problem," he said. "Rubbish wouldn't be a problem. They'd be paid for directly from us; the middle people would be taken out of it."Mr Kudrynski said he was not worried about whether he got a large vote."I know I'm going to vote for this and me missus is, too - so that's two."If I get less than two votes I'll be screaming the election's rigged."