Ingrid Jellick

With eleven enthusiastic candidates vying to be Tauranga City mayor, even the winner, independent and former Tauranga Deputy-Mayor, Greg Brownless, was surprised to come out on top.

He says his top priority in the new position as mayor is to "get the councillors together and have a chat and see what their direction's going to be for the new council and where we think the community wants us to go."

When asked why he thought he got the majority of the votes he said he thought it might be because he is "a good all round sort of person" and "probably seen as approachable."

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On the topic of the lack of affordable housing he suggested council "perhaps make sure that there's a reasonable supply of land."

The new mayor will be looking to collaborate with the newly elected councillors to see what needs to be done. He says that despite the fact he has influence, when it comes down to making decisions, he only has one vote.

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