He gave no hint as to who his deputy mayor would be, but said he was happy with the make-up of the new council, which included four new faces around the table.
"The community likes constant rejuvenation. There's a good mix of experienced, good councillors and some great new talent."
One face missing from the new line-up was councillor Wayne Bradshaw, a long-time adversary and thorn in the side of the mayor.
Regardless of Mr Bradshaw's departure, Mr Yule said there would still be room for independent voices on council.
"I have encouraged that - we operate an open shop where people can have their say.
"I expect people to come to a meeting and express their independence but also to abide by the majority decision, and in general they have done that."
He has faced criticism in the past about his absences from the council when away on Local Government New Zealand business, but denied that he was "missing in action" at times.
"It's very challenging doing both roles, but Hastings always comes first.
"I plan the Local Government New Zealand diary around the Hastings diary, and I have not missed many meetings.
"Hastings gets a lot of benefit out of some of the experience I have got from those roles and I am happy to pass that on."
Another issue to arise this elections was the public appetite for there to be more open meetings of council, something he said Hastings did a pretty good job of already.
"I think we're one of the most open and transparent councils in the region.
"We have a small number of public excluded meetings and we will continue with that, but we want to do as much as we can to be open."
Although he polled well above his rivals, he was aware that there were people wanting change who split the vote between the other two candidates, but he still believed he had a strong mandate to govern.
"If I have an achilles heel with those people [who didn't vote for him], it's probably around how long I have been there, but it's my last term and I want to leave the place in the best shape I can."