Tauranga City Council is having its first election since 2019 after four years under a commission's governance. Here's a brief history of what happened. Video / Alex Cairns
The only female elected in Tauranga’s new council says she is “sad to be the only woman” and it feels like the city is “going backwards”.
Jen Scoular is set to become the Mauao/Mount Maunganui ward councillor, receiving 1964 votes in the preliminary results for the Tauranga City Council election which were released yesterday afternoon.
The final result will be released on or before 3pm on Thursday, once special voting processes have been completed.
Two former councillors have been re-elected in the wards, preliminary results show. Pāpāmoa ward councillor Steve Morris was part of the sacked 2019 council. Arataki ward councillor Rick Curach will serve his seventh term on council after missing out in the 2019 election.
Jen Scoular is set to become the ward councillor for Mauao/Mount Maunganui.
Scoular told the Bay of Plenty Times she was “thrilled” to have the support of her local community and thanked them for electing her.
She went for a run and a swim in the ocean yesterday to celebrate her win.
“I’m looking forward to supporting Mahé [Drysdale] as our mayor to create a strong and capable team to govern our city.”
However, Scoular said she was “sad to be the only woman” on a council of 10 in a “modern city”.
“It really feels like we’re going backwards and I don’t want that for Tauranga.
“I think there were some really good female candidates and I would certainly like to understand better what stopped them being supported.”
Scoular said diversity meant having a “good range of voices” at the table and research showed having an equal split on gender around decision-making tables “is actually where you get the best decisions”.
Te Papa ward councillor Rod Taylor.
Te Papa ward councillor Rod Taylor - who received 1249 votes - said in his view, the CBD had “a lot of negative press” recently.
“My priority is concentrating on getting the CBD up and going again.
In his view: “I think they’re [the elected council] probably the right sort of mix that we can go ahead and carry on with the advances that have been made so far by the commissioners without having some of the troubles that they had in the last elected council.”
Tauriko ward councillor Marten Rozeboom.
Tauriko ward councillor Marten Rozeboom - who received 2134 votes - said it was a “privilege” to be elected, but he was disappointed with the overall participation rate.
The voter turnout rate was 37.88% as of Saturday. This compared to 40.28% in the 2019 election.
“We are supposed to represent the views of the Tauranga residents, and if they don’t participate and select who they want, it just makes our job more challenging.”
Rozeboom said the biggest concern was fixing Barkes Corner and the Tauriko roundabout “so we can actually get in and out of here”.
He said many major roads in Tauriko were NZ Transport Agency roads “so will obviously have to work closely with NZTA to improve them”.
Welcome Bay ward councillor Hautapu Baker. Photo / Alex Cairns
Welcome Bay ward councillor Hautapu Baker - who received 2498 votes - said he was “humbled and grateful” to have “such an overwhelming level of support” from the community.
Baker said he hoped to create more opportunities for community cohesion and connection.
“No one does community better than the Welcome Bay ward and if we can enhance that sense of community, then it’s going to increase the well-being of everybody that lives in our ward.”
Bethlehem ward councillor Kevin “Herb” Schuler.
Bethlehem ward councillor Kevin “Herb” Schuler - who received 2307 votes - said he felt for the other Bethlehem candidates because “everyone worked hard” and ran a positive campaign.
“I’m pretty grateful the voters of Bethlehem have shown faith and trust in me.”
He was looking forward to meeting with the “diverse range” of groups in Bethlehem.
“So when I am at work, I’ve got good ability to communicate back and let people know what we’re doing and be held accountable for the decisions we make.”
Matua-Otumoetai ward councillor Glen Crowther.
Matua-Otūmoetai ward councillor Glen Crowther - who received 2460 votes - said he was “pleasantly surprised” but also “had a bit of a feeling that I might get there”.
Crowther said he was pleased “a couple of old hands” were re-elected to guide those who did not have councillor experience.
He said losing the swimming pool in Otūmoetai - proposed to close in 2017 - was a “critical concern” for a lot of people.
“That’s an immediate action point that I’d be keen to follow up on.”
Crowther said people were also concerned about the “looming rates increases” and council debt levels.
Arataki ward councillor Rick Curach.
Arataki ward councillor Rick Curach - who received 1859 votes - said he was “quite surprised” to be elected “because I didn’t use social media” for his campaign.
“I thought that would be a disadvantage to me... it’s quite refreshing in a way.”
He said his main concern was around the long-term plan and the affordability of rates.
Pāpāmoa ward councillor Steve Morris.
Pāpāmoa ward councillor Steve Morris - who received 1766 votes - said he was “humbled and honoured to be returned by my community”.
Asked what he planned to do differently this term, Morris said to advocate for the removal of the “double standard” in Pāpāmoa - “the unfair targeted rate on Pāpāmoa East that is three times higher than any other suburb in the city”.
Asked what he hoped to achieve for his ward, Morris said to advocate for rescaling and reprioritising CBD spending and directing it towards transport infrastructure “the whole city is crying out for” - particularly Pāpāmoa residents “who have to travel further and longer in traffic”.
Te Awanui ward councillor Mikaere Sydney - who received 1429 votes - was contacted for comment.
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.
