KEY POINTS:
One News weather presenter Kay Gregory is warning viewers her current cameos on telly are temporary only, because her top priority will be promoting the business of Hamilton City Council over the next three years.
The former Breakfast host's celebrity profile helped her trounce rival candidates in the Hamilton west ward at the weekend - while elsewhere experienced local body politicians lamented the emergence of "personality politics".
Gregory polled the highest of 24 candidates across the city, picking up 11,808 votes - more than 2000 clear of the next most popular choice.
She told the Herald she would not look to significantly change anything.
However, she wanted to promote the city as a good destination for outsiders and next year's V8 Supercar event was a step in the right direction for council, she said.
"Because I'm new I'll just be taking it step by step but I guess I'm just going to be working as hard as I can. Whatever responsibilities they give me I'll pick up the ball and run with it. So I haven't got anything specific that I want to do or change."
She would not look to lead one of the committees, despite her high poll result. "Goodness me no. I'll just do whatever I'm told to do. I'm not going in there with plans to run anything."
She had spoken with mayor-elect Bob Simcock and recently-appointed chief executive Michael Redman at the weekend, and there was a lot of help and support for new people, she said.
* In the Waikato District Health Board election, NZ Olympic team chef de mission Dave Currie was one of three new members elected. Mr Currie lives in Raglan and will lead the country's athletes to Beijing next year.
ENVIRONMENT WAIKATO
Environment Waikato (EW) is in for a shake-up, with six out of seven candidates from the Rates Control Team winning election to the 12-member table.
With four other long-serving councillors, last term's chairwoman, Jenni Vernon, was ousted from her seat by maverick council incumbent Ian Balme.
Mr Balme deliberately stood in Ms Vernon's central Waikato constituency in a bid to topple her.
In the Thames-Coromandel constituency the controversial Whangamata mangrove issue was a platform for new councillor Simon Friar to launch his successful bid for a seat.
He won as part of the rates control ticket, joining Peter Buckley, the Waikato Federated Farmers president.
Mr Friar said frivolous spending at the council would be reeled in, and in his view a big power shift would occur, from staff back to council.
Included on his hit list was next year's planned $15 million expenditure on new EW headquarters in Hamilton.
Mr Friar has been an outspoken critic of the way EW has handled Whangamata's controversial mangrove issue in the town's harbour.
He added that the marina society had been "treated disgracefully" in the past by the "errant nonsense" of local body bureaucrats.
TAUPO
Alleged dirty tactics were a feature of the local body election in Taupo, where Rick Cooper ousted two-term mayor Clayton Stent.
Mr Stent said he was disappointed at a local print advertisement, anonymously taken out a week before polling closed, which attacked him as the reason for the demise of the lakeside camping ground.
He said misleading information had been circulated about the sale of the campground which he never had the chance to respond to. The "pumped up" issue was awkward and he did not wish to be seen as a "bleating party."
But the advertisement was blatantly targeted at him and ignored the fact the decision to close the campground was a council-wide one.
Mr Cooper, a car dealer and property developer who has lived in Taupo for 37 years, said he did not take out the advertisement.
However he had strong suspicions who did. "There was a bunch of angry people over the campground situation."
He did not take issue with the tactic because it was in the interest of free speech and was perfectly legal.
Mr Stent said it was disappointing this year's election focused on single issue and personality politics where individuals were attacked.
"By all means attack the mayor's office and council, but not the individual."
He would fall back on his law practice but in the short term would take a break. "I'm far from crying in my tea, I'm a big boy, it's just that I won't get to finish off some of the projects I wanted to see finished off."
TAURANGA
In Tauranga the hot topic of debate in the lead up to the elections was the council's planned $23 million spend-up on a central city waterside museum.
The issue cost a number of councillors their seat at the civic boardroom table, but Stuart Crosby easily kept his job as mayor for another three years.
Five experienced councillors were ousted by a fresh set of faces that included former Mt Maunganui mayor Wayne Moultrie, said Mr Crosby.
He echoed Mr Stent's view that "personality politics" had played a disappointing but significant role in the elections, where personal attacks were a feature.
In the lead-up to the election, debate among candidates had centred on the latest museum proposals, which Mr Crosby conceded were now under serious threat with the new council.
"People believed the museum would be a blot on the landscape and that it was an inappropriate site."
He was confident of being able to bring the varied views of councillors together. "That's my strength."
ROTORUA &THAMES-COROMANDEL
Mayors Kevin Winters and Philippa Barriball said it was business as usual in their respective patches.
Rotorua's main issues were lake water quality and the $50 million airport development, Mr Winters said.
Thames-Coromandel's focus was to complete the $48 million upgrades to wastewater treatment plants in Whitianga, Pauanui-Tairua, and Whangamata, Mayor Barriball said.
While some Thames people were angry they were subsidising the eastern coast's projects, they perhaps failed to realise $10 million had been spent on their own treatment plant in the past year.
