Far North District Mayor Moko Tepania and Whangārei District Mayor Vince Cocurullo are facing in-house leadership challengers in the October local elections.
A potential battle between Far North District Council (FNDC) mayoral foes Tepania, 34, and one-time Deputy Mayor Ann Court is on the cards.
First-term mayor Vince Cocurullo, 51, at Whangārei District Council (WDC) is being challenged for his role from sitting councillor and former registered nurse Marie Olsen, of Maungatāpere. Olsen launched her campaign last Saturday.
Another Whangārei mayoral challenge is potentially on the cards from Waipu farmer and councillor Ken Couper who is standing at the next elections, but said he was undecided about whether to run for mayor too, in what would be his second tilt at the job.
Court was briefly Far North’s provisional mayor in the 2022 local elections, before incumbent Kaikohe’s Tepania won the top job after a final vote count.
A local government veteran, Court confirmed to Local Democracy Reporting Northland she would be standing in this year’s local elections, for the 11th time.
But when asked whether that would be as mayor in a third tilt and/or Bay of Islands Whangaroa ward councillor, Court said she had yet to decide. Neither would she confirm whether she would be standing as an independent or on a local ticket.
Moko Tepania and Ann Court could once again be Far North mayoral rivals, at the local elections in October.
Tepania this week confirmed he will be standing again, for the Far North mayoralty only, in what could be his second term at the helm, after first getting elected to the council in 2019.
Local Democracy Reporting Northland approached the region’s 63 local government politicians to find out about their early intentions for the October 11 election. About two-thirds of the roughly 52% of 44 councillors and their leaders who responded are standing again.
Whangārei District Mayor Vince Cocurullo confirmed he was seeking a second mayoral term after 12 years as a council politician.
Whangārei District Mayor Vince Cocurullo is being challenged for the mayoralty as he throws his hat in the ring for a second term at the next local elections.
Whangārei district councillor Marie Olsen has launched her challenge against mayor Vince Cocurullo.
In contrast, eight-year WDC politician Gavin Benney, 62, of Kauri, is not standing.
The anti-fluoride campaigner said his pending departure had nothing to do with his campaign against fluoride being added to Whangārei drinking water failing.
“I believe we’ve made great strides in getting the message across about fluoride. It’s been pretty monumental and will change how the country views fluoridation in the future. It’s just a matter of when the Ministry of Health comes round and water fluoridation’s stopped.”
Benney said he had decided at Christmas not to stand again because of growing frustration in his role.
“It’s the most frustrating job I’ve ever had. There’s so much bureaucracy.”
Whangārei district councillor Gavin Benney says his decision to stand down after eight years as a council politician has nothing to do with his failing to stop the fluoridation of Whangārei water.
Benney said councils nationwide needed to be more enabling.
“The whole culture of New Zealand’s councils is swayed to saying no and should be towards saying yes,” he said.
Benney would not comment on whether he would be standing again as New Zealand First candidate for Whangārei .
Olsen said she had thrown her hat into the mayoral ring over dissatisfaction with the way the council was being run and wanted to do more to make rates affordable.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s northernmost councillor, FNDC politician Mate Radich, 77, of Lake Ngātu, is also standing down in October over frustration with his council.
“It’s the worst it’s been in 15 years,” Radich said.
Fifteen-year FNDC politician Mate Radich says he's quitting the role at the October local elections after becoming increasingly disillusioned with his council's performance, including big delays in getting Sweetwater into the Kaitāia supply.
He said things were not getting done, citing his 12-year battle to get water from the Sweetwater aquifer into Kaitāia’s drinking reticulated supply.
Radich said he had become so disillusioned with his council failing to get basic infrastructure such as roading sorted that he’d started telling community members who asked for assistance that he couldn’t help them.
Meanwhile, Kaipara District Council’s (KDC) incumbent mayor Craig Jepson, 66, is standing again, seeking a second term.
Kaipara district councillor Mark Vincent said he had yet to decide whether to seek re-election, but if he did it would be as a councillor. He was not planning a mayoral challenge.
Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward's Pera Paniora will lose her role with the end of the electoral area in October. She's pictured in Dargaville with Kaipara District Mayor Craig Jepson. Photo / Susan Botting
The council’s Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward councillor, Pera Paniora will definitely be without her job from October 11 after KDC canned its Māori ward last year following new government legislation.
Paniora said she was still considering whether to stand again – either in KDC in a general ward or Northland Regional Council (NRC) in its Kaipara constituency, given her resource management background.
“Whatever I do, if I decide to stand again, it will be representing Kaipara,” Paniora said.
Meanwhile, former Northland Federated Farmers president and NRC Kaipara constituency councillor, Okahu farmer John Blackwell, has confirmed he is standing again.
NRC chairman and Hikurangi farmer Geoff Crawford, 57, has confirmed he is standing again. NRC councillors, uniquely in Northland, choose their own leader once elected.
Other incumbent regional councillors, former deputy chairman and biosecurity consultant Jack Craw, 72, of Whangārei, and Pataua South ecologist Amy Macdonald, 41, are seeking a third term. Langs Beach councillor and teacher Rick Stolwerk, 68, is seeking a fourth.
NRC councillor and Kerikeri organic producer Marty Robinson is undecided on standing again.
Northland local government politicians’ intentions for 2025:
FNDC: Mayor, 10 councillors and 19 community board members; Ahipara’s Felicity Foy and Paparoa’s Babe Kapa – standing again as councillors. Awanui’s Hilda Halkyard-Harawira – not yet sure whether she will seek re-election, but said if she did it would be in the council’s Ngā Tai o Tokerau ward.
Waipapa’s Steve McNally – plans not yet finalised.
Meanwhile, less than a quarter of community board members responded to the survey.
Bay of Islands – Whangaroa Community Board chairwoman Belinda Ward will be standing again in the Paihia subdivision, Roddy Pihema in the Kawakawa-Moerewa subdivision. Jane Hindle has not yet decided whether she will be standing, but if she does it would be in the Russell-Ōpua subdivision.
Te Hiku community board chairwoman Adele Gardner, of Kaitāia, said she had not yet decided whether she would stand again.
WDC: Mayor and 13 councillors; Whangārei’s Nicholas Connop (39), Dr Carol Peters and Paul Yovich plus Ngunguru’s Scott McKenzie (41) are also all standing as councillors again. Māori ward councillor Deb Harding is yet to decide.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
