Mayor of Tauranga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The mayor of Tauranga is the head of local government in Tauranga, New Zealand's fifth-largest city. The mayor presides over the Tauranga City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the single transferable vote method. The current mayor is Mahé Drysdale, elected in the 2024 Tauranga local elections. He assumed office on 2 August.[4]

StyleHis/Her Worship
SeatTauranga
Term length3 years, renewable[a]
Formation1882
Quick facts of Tauranga, Style ...
Mayor of Tauranga
Coat of arms of Tauranga
since 2 August 2024
StyleHis/Her Worship
SeatTauranga
Term length3 years, renewable[a]
Formation1882
First holderGeorge Vesey Stewart
DeputyJen Scoular[2]
Salary$172,918[3]
WebsiteOfficial website
Close

History

Tauranga was gazetted as a borough in 1882, and achieved sufficient population to become a city in 1963. The 1989 Local Body reforms saw the city become part of the Tauranga District, before the City of Tauranga was reproclaimed in 2004.

Elections for mayor were held annually from 1882 up to 1915, when terms become two years. In 1935 terms were made three years, the current system. The election used first-past-the-post voting up until the 2016 election,[5] then changed to single transferable vote.[6]

One of Tauranga's longest-serving mayors was Canon Charles Jordan, who was mayor for nine years in total over five separate periods. He is the subject of a commemorative statue, unveiled in Tauranga Domain in 1916, four years after his death.[7]

Tenby Powell was elected to the mayoralty in October 2019 but resigned in November 2020,[8] eight months after he was unanimously censured by his council for an angry outburst.[9][10] Following further mayoral "outbursts,"[11][12] Powell publicly called for the Minister of Local Government to appoint a commission to replace the "dysfunctional" council.[13][14] The decision to cancel the election for a new mayor and councillors, and the appointment of a Crown commission instead by minister Nanaia Mahuta on 9 February 2021 was not without controversy. A legal opinion by law firm Russell McVeagh found her decision may have been "unlawful"[15] and Tauranga MP Simon Bridges called the decision "dramatic and draconian",[16] while saying that Powell quitting removed "a significant source of friction" and it was reasonable to assume the council would become more functional with the election of a new Mayor and Councillor.[17]

The council and mayor were restored following elections in 2024. Mahé Drysdale was elected as mayor.

List of mayors

More information Name, Portrait ...
Name Portrait Term
Tauranga Borough Council (1882–1963)
1 George Vesey Stewart 1882[18]
2 Richard Coles Jordan 1882–1883
3 Thomas Wrigley 1883–1885[19]
4 Charles Jordan 1885–1886[20]
5 David Lundon 1886–1888[20][21]
6 James Bodell 1888–1889[22][23]
7 Robert Sharpe Galbraith 1889–1890[24][25]
(5) David Lundon 1890–1893[26][27]
8 Richard John Gill 1893[28]
9 Charles Angus Clarke 1893–1898[29][30][31][32]
10 Gerard Arnold Ward 1898–1899[33]
11 James Weir Gray 1899–1900[34]
(4) Charles Jordan 1900–1905[35]
12 William McKenzie Commons 1906–1907[36]
(4) Charles Jordan 1907–1908[37]
13 John Bull 1908–1909[38][39]
(4) Charles Jordan 1909–1910[39]
(13) John Bull 1910–1911[40]
(4) Charles Jordan 1911–1912
14 Benjamin Robbins 1912–1915[41][42]
15 Charles Macmillan 1915–1917[43]
16 John Cuthbert Adams 1917–1919[44]
17 Bradshaw Dive 1919–1929[45]
(14) Benjamin Robbins 1929–1933[42]
18 Alfred Francis Daly Tunks 1933–1935
19 Lionel Wilkinson 1935–1950
20 Bill Barnard 1950–1952[46]
(19) Lionel Wilkinson 1952–1956
21 David Mitchell 1956–1963
Tauranga City Council (1963–1989)
(21) David Mitchell 1963–1968
22 Bob Owens 1968–1977[47]
23 Eric Faulkner 1977–1980
24 Raymond Francis Dillon 1980–1983
25 Noel Pope 1983–1989
Tauranga District Council (1989–2003)
26 Keith "Nobby" Clarke 1989–1995
(25) Noel Pope 1995–2001[48]
27 Jan Beange 2001–2003[48][49]
Tauranga City Council (2003–present)
(27) Jan Beange 2003–2004[48][49]
28 Stuart Crosby 2004–2016[49]
29 Greg Brownless 2016–2019[50]
30 Tenby Powell 2019–2020[51][13]
– Replaced by Crown commission
chaired by Anne Tolley		 2020–2024
31 Mahé Drysdale 2024–
Close


Notes

  1. [a]
    Following the 2024 election, the mayor will serve a 4 years term until the 2028 local elections.

References

Sources

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI