It was local body governance at its most compelling - a beautiful thing.
For his part Mr Hughes took the heat with good grace, always happy to provide a plain English explanation of the way things were, often with pertinent background included, and delivered with an even temperament.
Had there been after-match beersies, there's little doubt they would have happily de-briefed together, for it was a robust but respectful few hours.
But it was only round one.
Council needs to make some big decisions around things like charging forestry carriers for the roading damage that council says is their fault.
That won't be easy - carriers have a point when they say they already pay for the roads through road user charges. Perhaps council's beef is with the NZTA and the amount of funding it receives through them?
And convincing Horizons Regional Council that it needs to stump up a wad of cash to help with repairs of the North and South moles will be another challenge. Mr Vinsen and Ms Baker-Hogan want to get central government involved.
And then there's the issue of whether Affco intends to be part of the city's new waste water scheme. Clearly a sensitive subject, councillors tip-toed around that issue, taking management assurances that the delicate issue was being managed. Some, like Ms Baker-Hogan, sought more concrete assurances.
As first meetings go this was a corker. Perhaps council should extend it's live streaming to main committee meetings as well as full council as that seems to be where the action is.
Then again perhaps councillors feel more inclined to enter robust debate without the camera's glare upon them.
But that's the least of the issues for now. It's going to be an exciting next couple of months as some vexing and costly issues are worked through.
Meanwhile we await the chairman's next choice of shirt with eager anticipation.
