Don Cameron has been re-elected as Ruapehu mayor and will be joined at Ruapehu District Council by newcomers Robyn Gram and Elijah Pue. Photo / File
Don Cameron has been re-elected as Ruapehu mayor and will be joined at Ruapehu District Council by newcomers Robyn Gram and Elijah Pue. Photo / File
Jacques Windell has lost his bid to unseat incumbent Ruapehu mayor Don Cameron as preliminary election results for Ruapehu were revealed on Saturday.
Windell also missed out on a seat at the Ruapehu District Council table as Karen Ngatai, Kim Wheeler, Adie Doyle and Graeme Cosford were re-elected in theTaumarunui Ward, joined by newcomer Robyn Gram.
Joining them from National Park Ward is Murray Wilson as well as Ben Goddard, Rabbit Nottage and Vivienne Hoeta from the Waimarino-Waiouru Ward.
Elijah Pue also joins Ruapehu District Council from Waimarino-Waiouru after Cynthia Dowsett retired.
Cameron said it was great to be re-elected as mayor, but turned his attention to the new faces.
"We've got a couple of new councillors who I think are going to add a lot to council. Young Elijah Pue is only in his early 20's which is quite unusual," he said.
"Robyn Gram is a business owner in Taumarunui and she's got a good head on her as well. I think we're pretty well balanced."
Cameron called Pue and Gram as soon as he heard the outcome to congratulate them.
He said they have a meet and greet on Wednesday followed by some workshops about governance further down the track.
"They've already got a fairly good idea what is involved because we've kept them up to date with what's going on," Cameron said.
"They understand what's involved over the next three years. A lot of them come in pretty cold and then it hits them, particularly when they've got a full time job as well. Some of them really struggle, but I don't think these people will."
Cameron said that over 40 per cent of Ruapehu locals voted which was similar to the previous election.
