Horowhenua District Council mayor Michael Feyen.
Five months in to his mayoralty, Michael Feyen is loving his job, although he says things would have been smoother sailing had support usually given to new mayors not been withheld.
Feyen spoke to the Horowhenua Chronicle from his office this week, reflecting on his time in the top job so far - a time, he says, that has been equally challenging and rewarding.
Voted in by a slim margin last October, Feyen ousted Brendan Duffy, who had been mayor for 12 years.
As a newcomer pushing for change, Feyen has taken a no-holds-barred approach to his new position, advocating for transparency and communicating directly via social media - something that has had a somewhat polarising effect within council chambers, with other councillors and staff finding it concerning.
"If there's one thing that I think a lot of people in this building would like me not to have, it's my Facebook page," he said.
One of his first moves as mayor was to question the structural safety of the council building itself, dismissing in-house engineering reports and commissioning his own, with the conclusions yet to be released.
The new mayor has also had his authority directly challenged more than once, most notably where his choice of deputy mayor, Ross Campbell, was removed from office by other councillors using a loophole in local government legislation.
Councillor Wayne Bishop was then voted in as the new deputy, while Feyen and Campbell scrambled for legal assistance.
The situation drew national media attention and vocal protest from members of the community, who packed council's public chambers in unprecedented numbers, and while Bishop currently remains in the role, Feyen said he and Campbell were still investigating the legalities of the situation.
Feyen was also removed, amid accusations of bias, from a panel that would be considering proposals to purchase the district's community housing because he has spoken publicly against the plan, as well as being bypassed for comment with media queries directed straight to the deputy mayor.
He has made no secret of his views on many of the issues facing the district, including the controversial plan to upgrade Foxton's main street, which he said was not adequately consulted on.
Feyen said he is sticking to the promises he campaigned on, and was the only candidate to put forward a manifesto spelling these out.
His election was, he said, a shock to many, although not to himself.
"I definitely thought I had a chance because I could see that so many people actually want to be listened to again and [be] part of what changes happen in the district and how we move forward as a district," he said.
"That's why I went on so strongly about getting governance back into council, elected people getting community back into council to come up with the visions and then work with management to implement."
He said his philosophies on vision and direction have been part of a wider move for change in local government, with mayoralty changes in multiple other districts around the country at the last election.
"People actually want to know that if they're going to make a vote, it's going to count," he said.
"It's no secret I believe it had swung too far the other way with management basically setting the direction and getting councils to tick a box. Not my style."
He was proud to have already made significant progress on his specific vision statements, including instilling open communication in council - which now livestreams all public meetings - and in the area of co-management between council and Horowhenua tangata whenua.
He was also pleased with the implementation of committee structures and plans for economic and environmental forums that would see community participation.
"I'm very proud of that, and the councillors that went along with it," he said.
"It's all got through."
Focusing on achievements seems to be the way Feyen has stayed so upbeat about his role, despite the issues he has faced, and the often personal attacks that have been directed at him by those who may not have wanted such a shake up in council chambers.
"In my very first meeting as mayor, I was hit with three notices of motion straight away - you just don't hear about that happening anywhere at a first council meeting," he said.
The notices of motion proposed pushing ahead with the process to sell community housing, not looking any further into engineering reports on the council building, and not "opening the books".
"Of course it was deliberate," Feyen said.
"They were three major parts of my manifesto that were voted against nine to two at the very first meeting, which is really interesting when you consider that three hadn't been councillors [before]."
"[There were] no briefings, we didn't do any of that, so for many people it seemed a very pre-determined vote."
Despite the struggles though, Feyen is looking forward to continuing his work as mayor, particularly as he felt there were many in the Horowhenua community who did not get a fair say on the issues that concern them - something he believes is behind his successful election.
He was concerned though to keep his focus on moving forward positively.
"I'm not negative at all," he said.
"I'm happy in the job. I would have been much happier much quicker to have got the assistance that a new mayor would normally expect - that has really held me back [but] I'm really getting out there. I'm not sitting on my hands.
"I always try and get win-win situations - I'm sticking to that."