Bill Dalton, Mayor of Napier.
The people of Napier are to be congratulated for electing a very good team to guide their city for the next three years.
Clearly I am disappointed to lose any of the very successful 2013/2016 team but that is democracy and I know those not re-elected are comfortable with the contribution they have made to the wellbeing of our city and province.
I congratulate the new councillors - you have big shoes to fill and some exciting opportunities ahead.
At the start of a new term, the Mayor and councillors face a new set of challenges. The number one priority for me as Mayor is to get the councillors, despite having been elected as individuals, working cohesively as a team.
There is no place on our team for show ponies - we've got a lot of work to do. I need to make appropriate appointments to positions of responsibility and do that with an eye not just on this term, but on the future governance of our city. That is going to require changes to the current council committee structure.
Contrary to speculation by the editor of this newspaper, no deals were done prior to the election and no-one elected to council has been guaranteed any position.
In 2019 we are likely going to be faced with electing a very different council. It's no secret that I will not stand in 2019 and it's likely a number of senior councillors will also call it a day.
I need to ensure that people elected to council in 2019 have the appropriate skills and experience to continue the good work done by councils in the past.
I also hope that more people, currently not on council, will get involved in positive community activities so that when it becomes time for them to stand for council they are well known and respected.
As a council the workload this term will be significant. There's an unprecedented number of projects in the investigation, planning and implementation stages and they all require the input and oversight of the governance team. New blood means there will be new ideas to consider.
We need to listen to and work hard with all of our community as we deliver services that are valued. While we already deliver results that are the envy of a lot of others, the challenge now is to continue to improve and make Napier an outstanding place to work, live and visit.
Regrettably public engagement and participation in the local government election process has been abysmally poor. There have been many theories put forward as to why this is the case and my view is that social media has a lot to do with it.
Facebook pages, set up by well-meaning people to engage residents in serious discussion on matters, have been taken over by a small but vociferous minority determined, for whatever reason, to attack the mayor, councillors and the council.
While expressing their constantly negative views might fuel the writers' egos, it just encourages others not to get involved in local government at any level, and that includes voting.
We must find a way of encouraging more people to engage with the local government process and record their vote. I don't favour electronic voting and believe we should go back to having polling booths.
The next three years are going to be an exciting time for the city of Napier.
A large number of projects will be completed and even more will be underway. As our sporting facilities are upgraded we can expect to see more international and national tournaments and games. On the arts scene a number of festivals, concerts and shows are planned and of course festivals like the internationally famous Art Deco Festival will continue.
The Te Matatini festival that only comes to Hawkes Bay approximately every 30 years will be held across the Bay in 2017.
All I ask is that people get involved.
Get out and get involved in what's happening in your city. Participate in events, attend shows, go to the sports matches, support openings and local events.
The more people make the effort to embrace the things that are happening in their city the more the whole community will enjoy themselves.
So onwards and upwards for the next three years. Shirley and I will be putting the effort in so that when we ride off into the sunset in 2019, Napier hopefully, will have benefited from our efforts.
Bill Dalton is the Mayor of Napier. He was elected unopposed on Saturday for a second term.