Mayor of Tauranga facts for kids

Greg Brownless, mayor from 2016 to 2019

Stuart Crosby, mayor from 2004 to 2016

The Mayor of Tauranga is the head of the municipal government of Tauranga, New Zealand, and presides over the Tauranga City Council. There is currently no Mayor of Tauranga. On 9 February 2021, a Crown Commission appointed by the Minister of Local Government took over all of the council's governance responsibilities, including the vacant position of Mayor. Tenby Powell resigned as Mayor in November 2020.

History

George Vesey Stewart, first Mayor of Tauranga

Canon Charles Jordan, Vicar of Holy Trinity for 39 years and Mayor of Tauranga for nine years over five separate periods

Tauranga was gazetted as a borough in 1882, and achieved sufficient population to become a city in 1963. The 1989 Local Body reforms saw the city become part of the Tauranga District, before the City of Tauranga was reproclaimed in 2004.

Elections for mayor were held annually from 1882 up to 1915, when terms become two years. In 1935 terms were made three years, the current system. The election used first-past-the-post voting up until the 2016 election, then changed to single transferable vote.

One of Tauranga's longest-serving mayors was Canon Charles Jordan, who was mayor for nine years in total over five separate periods. He is the subject of a commemorative statue, unveiled in Tauranga Domain in 1916, four years after his death.

The last mayor, Tenby Powell, was elected to the office in October 2019 but resigned in November 2020, eight months after he was unanimously censured by his council for an angry outburst. Following further mayoral "outbursts," Powell publicly called for the Minister of Local Government to appoint a commission to replace the "dysfunctional" council. The decision to cancel the election for a new mayor and councillors, and the appointment of a crown commission instead by Nanaia Mahuta was not without controversy. A legal opinion by law firm Russell McVeagh found her decision may have been "unlawful" and Tauranga MP Simon Bridges called the decision "dramatic and draconian", while saying that Powell quitting removed "a significant source of friction" and it was reasonable to assume the council would become more functional with the election of a new Mayor and Councillor.

List of mayors

Election results

2007 election

2007 local body elections: Mayor of Tauranga
Candidate	Votes	%
Stuart Crosby Y	15,089	44.63
Murray Guy	7,697	22.77
Bill Faulkner	5,596	16.55
Mike Baker	3,271	9.68
John Robson	625	1.85
Hori Tunnels	449	1.33
Jim Smylie	384	1.14
Informal votes	73	0.22
Blank ballots	624	1.85
Majority	7,392	21.86
Turnout	33,808	43.9
Stuart Crosby hold

2016 election

2019 election

The 2019 mayoral election was run using the single transferable voting system. Previous mayoral elections had used first past the post.

2019 Tauranga mayoral election
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9
	Tauranga Deserves Better Leadership	Tenby Powell	32.58%	12,486	12,505	12,554	12,696	12,857	13,098	13,690	15,085	17,299
	Proven Leadership & Community Commitment	Greg Brownless	20.82%	7,978	7,993	8,029	8,105	8,180	8,463	8,989	9,647	12,400
	Let's Build a Better City. Together.	Kelvin Clout	16.42%	6,295	6,315	6,375	6,484	6,610	6,959	7,533	8,635
	Fix the Council, vote for positive change	Andrew Hollis	10.34%	3,964	4,001	4,074	4,219	4,381	4,800	5,715
	For Tauranga	John Robson	7.78%	2,982	3,011	3,044	3,132	3,235	3,474
	Your choice for your voice - Stop the waste	Murray Guy	4.94%	1,893	1,909	1,962	2,031	2,128
	Ocean City	Christopher Stokes	2.34%	897	916	1,003	1,142
	Independent	Jos Nagels	2.39%	916	932	974
	Independent	Rangimarie Kingi	1.81%	695	703
	Independent	Les Wallen	0.58%	222

Incumbent candidate