Election results: new councillor for the Bay
With 998 votes, Martine Bouillir has topped the contest for the Bay’s two seats at the Tasman District Council table, becoming one of three new district councillors who will undergo an induction process next week.
Noel Riley (982) retains his position on council, defeating Paul Sangster (907), Alan Blackie (866) and Stuart Borlase (587).
Incumbent Richard Kempthorne (8,994) retained the mayoralty over Ted O’Regan (4,933) and Victoria Davis (2,612).
Ms Bouillir said she was “very pleased to be elected and ready for the task”.
“I think being involved across the board in the Bay meant that lots of voters knew me. I think that people were looking for something different and I’m looking forward to being that representative over the Hill in a good way. Although we won’t be sworn in until the 21st , the meetings have started already. We’ll get together with the community board this week and I’ll meet with the Mayor next week.”
Mr Riley said that the new council had the makings of “a good combination”.
“I’ve rung the Mayor to congratulate him and I told him I think we have the makings of a good team,” said Mr Riley, who added that this term, his third, will be his last.
“I’ll be making a bit more noise this time. My mission is to make sure that council is more transparent in its day-to-day activities. There is a perception is that it’s a bit mysterious with matters being dealt with in workshops and in committee. It doesn’t always need to be so. At least the results of discussions should be made public.”
Both of the incoming Golden Bay ward councillors say they want to be fully involved as community board members. In the last term, the councillors were granted speaking rights at board meetings but did not participate in any voting.
“There was a view in council that we had a conflict of interest because we had the chance to vote on something at board level and then vote again on it at council level,” said Mr Riley.
“I want to be fully involved at board level this term.”
Outgoing councillor Stuart Borlase said: “It’s been a privilege to represent Golden Bay over the last six years. We have an amazing community. People over here are very interested in how the council operates. I want to send a big thanks to the voters who supported me. I’m sorry I didn’t deliver on the day and I’ve been very grateful for the support I’ve had since the results came out. I’m pleased to see Martine on the new council and I believe she’s going to be a first-class councillor. I wish both her and Noel all the best in this upcoming term. It’s going to be a challenging one. That’s the way it always is and that’s what I enjoyed. I’ve had some very gratifying messages from senior managers in council and from the Mayor and some councillors since the results came out, so that’s been nice.”
Mr Borlase said that for him there would be a life after council, “just as there was after cows”.
“My community involvement will go on as usual. The hanging baskets will happen next week and the committees I’m on will still be seeing me.”
The other unsuccessful candidates were Alan Blackie and Paul Sangster.
Mr Blackie said he was grateful for the support he received and that he would continue to take an active interest in local politics because “you can only be critical of something for so long and then you’ve got to do something.”
Mr Sangster said that he would remain active on the issues that concern him.
“I still think the hospital should be closer to town, the sewerage ponds should be further away and there should be a cheaper option to the reticulated water for fire-fighting.”
Golden Bay’s unsuccessful mayoral candidate, Victoria Davis, said “My heartfelt thanks to all who supported the changes I was offering to the leadership of TDC.”
Golden Bay voters exercised their right to vote in typically high numbers during the recent elections.
Barely 50 percent of those eligible to vote in the entire Tasman District actually did so, but more than 62 percent of the Bay’s voters took the trouble to have their say.
Neil Wilson
