Deputy mayor promises unity
Palmerston North’s newly installed deputy mayor Aleisha Rutherford and mayor Grant Smith are promising unified leadership of the city council.
Rutherford, 31, is the youngest city councillor and was appointed deputy after her predecessor Tangi Utikere’s election to Parliament last month.
She is in her third term on the council.
Smith said at an investiture ceremony at yesterday’s council meeting that he and Rutherford would complement each other’s skills and must work well together.
And Rutherford said she would build on the solid relationship between the mayor and deputy that had been developed during Utikere’s tenure. “We don’t have to look too far across the country to see what happenswhenwe don’t have strong, unified leadership,” she said, in an apparent reference to councils at odds with each other in Wellington, Invercargill and Tauranga. In Wellington, councillors are speaking out against mayor Andy Foster’s appearance at a protest against the sale and lease of council land at Shelly Bay for development. In
Invercargill, an independent review has reported mayor Tim Shadbolt is struggling to do the job. And in Tauranga, a damning report finding councillors had a poorly developed understanding of their role has prompted calls to appoint a Crown manager.
Rutherford said she, the mayor and councillors would still have disagreements. “But it does mean that we work constructively to find collective solutions and engage in robust debate. I’m proud to be part of this team.”
Rutherford said she was humbled and excited about taking on the role of deputy mayor.