Kaipara Mayor Jonathan Larsen has survived a recount bid challenge for the top job from one of his councillors Snow Tane.
High Court Judge Kevin Kelly on Friday dismissed a judicial vote recount application from Tane who missed out on his bid for the mayoralty by 21 votes.
Larsen won the Kaipara District Council mayoralty on October 11 with just 21 mayoral votes out of 10,702 cast. Larsen achieved 3138 votes, Tane 3117.
Larsen said the decision created more certainty for the council going forward.
“What this means is, I can now push ahead with certainty that we can form a cohesive council,” Larsen said.
Larsen said he wanted to congratulate Kaipara’s people for electing a great council.
He looked forward to all the councillors working together for the good of ratepayers.
Larsen said he had been in communication with Tane throughout the week.
Tane had congratulated him on the mayoralty after the decision.
He looked forward to sitting down for a coffee with the councillor.
Larsen said he held no grudge against Tane for his mayoral recount bid.
It was part of the normal process of democracy.
Tane could not be reached for comment by publication time.
He had previously said that he looked forward to working as part of the elected governance team, whatever the outcome of his recount bid.
Larsen said he was now working on organising catch-ups with his new councillors as part of moving the establishment of the new council forward.
Tane will be one of the nine politicians on the council, after comfortably topping voting in the Wairoa General Ward.
Losing out on his recount bid gives more certainty to the ward’s three-seat line-up where new councillor Joesephine Nathan and re-elected, now deputy mayor Gordon Lambeth are now representing this electoral area.
Tane’s mayoral recount challenge outcome had created more governance certainty.
But that won’t be 100% certainty until two other outstanding Kaipara judicial vote recounts that have also gone to the District Court this week are ruled on.
The decisions must be made before the council can hold its swearing in ceremony.
This formal ceremony is the point at which the new top table can officially take the helm.
Larsen said, subject to the outcome of those two applications, the swearing-in ceremony was now set for November 12 at Matakohe.
But that date would be dependent on the district court decisions.
Larsen said that given the two outstanding applications were similarly based to those of Tane’s, it could probably be expected the judge would rule correspondingly.
Outgoing Ōtamatea General Ward councillor and election candidate Mark Vincent is seeking a judicial recount decision after missing out by just two votes on being re-elected to one of this electoral area’s two seats.
And outgoing Wairoa General Ward councillor and election candidate Ash Nayyar has also lodged a judicial recount decision after missing out on one of this electoral area’s three seats. This was by 187 votes. Two other ward candidates are ahead of him in the queue behind Lambeth.
Nayyar also missed out on the mayoralty.
KDC’s governance table is now filled by Mayor Larsen, Deputy Mayor Lambeth and councillors former Mayor Craig Jepson, Luke Canton, Nathan, Denise Rogers, Mike Schimanski, Tane and Rachael Williams.
Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air