New Kaipara Mayor Jonathan Larsen has survived a vote recount challenge.
New Kaipara Mayor Jonathan Larsen has survived a vote recount challenge.
Kaipara Mayor Jonathan Larsen has avoided facing a recount of votes for the top job after a legal challenge by one of his councillors.
High Court Judge Kevin Kelly on Friday dismissed a judicial vote recount application from Snow Tane, who missed out on his bid for the mayoralty by21 votes.
Larsen won the Kaipara District Council (KDC) mayoralty on October 11 after securing 3138 votes to Tane’s 3117.
Larsen said the High Court decision created more certainty for the council.
“What this means is I can now push ahead with certainty that we can form a cohesive council,” Larsen said.
Tane had congratulated him on the mayoralty after the court decision.
Larsen said he held no grudge against Tane for his mayoral recount bid as it was part of the normal process of democracy.
Kaipara District councillor Snow Tane lost his mayoral recount challenge.
Tane could not be reached for comment by publication time.
He had previously said he looked forward to working as part of the elected governance team, whatever the outcome of his recount bid.
Larsen said he was now working on organising catch-ups with his new councillors as part of establishing the new council.
Tane will be one of the nine politicians on the council after topping voting in the Wairoa General Ward.
Losing out on his recount bid means the ward’s three-seat lineup will be filled by himself, new councillor Joesephine Nathan and re-elected, now deputy mayor Gordon Lambeth.
The full make-up of the council remains unknown as two other outstanding Kaipara judicial vote recount applications went to the District Court this week and are yet to be ruled on.
The decisions must be made before the council can hold its swearing-in ceremony.
This formal ceremony is the point at which the new top table can officially take charge.
Larsen said, subject to the outcome of those two applications, the swearing-in ceremony was set for November 12 at Matakohe.
He said the two outstanding applications were similar to Tane’s and he expected a judge would rule correspondingly.
Previous Ōtamatea General Ward councillor and election candidate Mark Vincent is seeking a judicial recount decision after missing out by two votes on being re-elected to one of the area’s two seats.
Ash Nayyar has also lodged a judicial recount decision for the Wairoa General Ward after missing out on one of three seats by 187 votes. Two other candidates were ahead of him in the count that was topped by Lambeth.
Nayyar also missed out on the mayoralty.
KDC’s governance table is now filled by Mayor Larsen, Deputy Mayor Lambeth and the councillors look set to be former mayor Craig Jepson, Luke Canton, Nathan, Denise Rogers, Mike Schimanski, Tane and Rachael Williams.
