Mackenzie’s new mayor is looking forward to delivering projects for the community.
Anne Munro said the past week had been quite full-on with finding out she won the mayoralty and attending a twoday induction event in Wellington.
‘‘The induction was really valuable, getting to meet all the new mayors from across the country and getting to talk to the re-elected mayors about what the job entails.’’
Mrs Munro received 1483 votes and will head a council in which five out of seven councillors are new.
She said she was excited and looking forward to working with the council and getting to know them all.
‘‘Working within the council takes a while to get your head around.
‘‘We have a good induction process for them and we will get them through that as soon as possible so we can keep the momentum going.’’
Mrs Munro has been on the council previously and put her name forward only for the role of mayor this election, which she said was a risk.
‘‘If it was not my time, I would bow out to give someone else a chance to step forward.
‘‘I’m all about sharing the load, it’s important the community keep bringing new blood forward.
‘‘It’s a tough job running for council.’’
She said she had been pinching herself after finding out she had won and was really humbled that people had faith in her abilities.
‘‘On the one hand it’s all very exciting; on the other hand I’m acutely aware of the responsibility the role comes with.
‘‘I want to do best by the community — I love this community and I want to protect the values that our community holds.’’
There are a few future projects that she wants to focus on, such as getting lots of community consultation about the district plan they would like to complete in three years.
One thing she wants to focus on is investing in growth projects the community would like to see.
Another is Te Manahuna Ki Uta, a tourism strategy that has recently been adopted by the council that she hopes will help keep tourism moving forward within the district.
‘‘I want to be sticking to time frames and delivering. I want to look back and go ‘wow, we worked really hard and delivered’.’’
She wants to make sure assets are maintained and that as a smaller community they do not disappear.
‘‘We need to maintain our voice and we need to continue to be here.’’
She advises new councillors to reflect, pace themselves, to give it their best and to do the readings.
‘‘Don’t take the role lightly. The community put their trust in you for this role. It is a privilege to have the role.’’
She said it was a shame the voting turnout was so low and wanted to engage more with community.
‘‘As the local council, we need to engage with local schools and the community to help inform what it is we actually do as a council. This could be done through something like forming a youth council.’’
Mrs Munro wanted to thank former mayor Graham Smith and former councillors for the work they had done.
‘‘We want to continue that work on. We have a great team around us to do that and we want to continue on improving and helping the community is at the forefront of our minds.’’
