Kirton is mayor

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 608, 17 October 1995, Page 1

Kirton is mayor

Plans a team-building start

Weston Kirton is elated to have been elected mayor of the Ruapehu district in the local body elections. The mayor elect is a dairy farmer in Taumarunui, but he says he will appoint a manager to the farm as now his first priority is the mayoralty. "Initially I want to concentrate on getting a good team behind me and making sure that other representatives are doing a* goodjob." He says he is keen to get around the district so he can make an in-depth assessment of what's going on and he promises that he'll be coming to the Waimarino as often as possible. Mr Kirton said he would like to thank the Waimarino people for their support and says he and his wife Annette are looking forward to being ambassadors for the Ruapehu District. Peck close Bob Peck was a close second in the race for mayor with just 284 votes between him and Mr Kirton. Although Mr Peck missed out on the mayoralty he can take heart in the fact that he was the highest polling candidate ever in the Waimarino. Mr Peck thought the race was fair and predictable from all angles. "Health was the major issue of the campaign. If I had been elected mayor I would have taken a deputation to the Minister of Health." Mr Peck quotes Garrick Workman as saying that the two criteria for being a successful mayor were: that the position be taken on as a full time job; and that there be a good mayoress. Mr Peck acknowledged that he could only fulfil the first criteria but also says that Weston Kirton waged an aggressive and effective campaign and he should be congratulated on that. Mr Peck would like to thank those who voted for him and supported him, especially Siegfried Bauer and Brian Moss. Graham Cosford was disappointed he was not elected mayor but stresses that as a member of the council he will still have a very important role to play in looking

after the interests of the district. "The council is made up of largely the same people, so we all know how each other thinks," he said. "It will be interesting to see how the council functions under the leadership of Weston Kirton." Mr Cosford said that he enjoyed the mayoral campaign and puts his outcome down to the constraints of time and money. Distaste Keith Chappel said he was relieved that he hadn't won the mayoral campaign. "As the campaign went on I developed a distaste for the other candidates, who dealt in trivia and in the main failed to grasp issues." Mr Chappel believes the big issue facing the mayor is the running down of rural communities which is reflected in a decline in the local economy, education and in health services. He says his contribution to the campaign was to highlight these issues and in doing so he believes his campaign has been successful. Mr Chappel summed up by saying "I failed to gain the thinking of the electorate, this is a conservative region and I am not a conservative. My method of dealing with things is somewhat different." Mr Chappel says he will not be standing again and he wishes the council and mayorelect good luck. Follow-up June Baker said her campaign had been an interesting exercise in finding out what many people think of their district council. "If some of these issues are followed up by the new council then they will be seen to be keeping in touch with the people," she commented. 'The successful mayoral candidate certainly spent his money keeping the voters informed and the media responded accordingly. If this action continues it can only be good for future district concerns. Going out and asking must be the way to go and the public will expect some positive response from the exercise." She concluded that she would continue to support schemes that would benefit the Ruapehu District, working outside the council