Preliminary result
17,566 - Stuart Crosby
4512 - Murray Guy
4154 - MarkGroos
(Final count begins today)
Despite huge rates increases and a fractured council that even the mayor admits was unprofessional, Tauranga has voted back an almost identical council.
Incumbent mayor Stuart Crosby won by a landslide, with almost four times as many votes as his next opponent, and the council got just three new members - two of them returning.
However, tension that had built up during the previous term - when rates increased by almost 30 per cent - bubbled over in the campaign.
"We haven't seen that dimension before in Tauranga. Maybe it's a symptom of the city getting bigger," said Mr Crosby.
Anonymous emails and letters attacking the character of the mayor and others were circulated. "They punched below the belt," he said. But the people he suspected to be behind the attacks failed to be elected, Mr Crosby said.
"We've got some way to improve to be more professional because we weren't, to be frank. It's certainly my commitment to create a more cohesive council."
Mayoral candidate and opposition councillor Murray Guy said he was looking forward to see whether the small changes to the council would make a difference.
"I'm acutely aware that the moment you change one ingredient in a cake, you change the total outcome," he said.
"Humans are a bit like chameleons - they change their spots to suit the environment. Until we go in there, I don't know how it's going to react."
He was surprised to see Mr Crosby's winning margin given Tauranga's level of indebtedness and rate increases, he said.
Both Mr Crosby and Mr Guy agreed the top priority was sorting out finances.
