Stratford happy to retain mayor
Stratford voters can be a conservative lot and in 2016 they seem to have no desire for change at the top of the council table.
Sitting Mayor Neil Volzke will be returned unopposed for another three years, which is hardly surprising given the margin of his majority in 2013. Volzke beat Tony Milham by a landslide, taking 2522 of the 2912 votes, so it would have been a brave soul who fancied his chances this time around.
Milham is nevertheless standing again, this time for the one of the six seats on the council’s urban ward. There he is joined by other newcomers Gary Ammundsen, Peter Dalziel, Rawinia Henderson, Brian Tipler and Gloria Webby. Current councillors Jono Erwood, Alan Jamieson, John Sandford and Kelvin Squire are seeking re-election, which means there will be 10 candidates vying for the six seats.
It’s a different story in the rural ward, in which Graham Kelly is the only current councillor standing for re-election. There are four seats around the table and Kelly will be competing against Grant Boyde, Rick Coplestone, Kevin O’Brien, Keryn Walsh and Kevin O’Brien.
Meanwhile another former mayor and chairman of the Taranaki Electricity Trust, Brian Jeffares, is being challenged for the Stratford seat on the Taranaki
‘‘I think if someone runs unopposed for too long there's a potential to get complacent.’’
Matthew McDonald
Regional Council by Matthew McDonald. While Jeffares hasn’t had a rival for his seat on the TRC since he was elected in 2007, McDonald is well known as a real estate agent, whose business is based in Stratford. He told the Taranaki Daily News he hopes to give Jeffares, a former Stratford mayor, a run for his money in October’s election.
McDonald said the council was starting to get a name for not seeing many younger members elected.
‘‘Brian has done an amazing job but I think if someone runs unopposed for too long there’s a potential to get complacent,’’ he said.
‘‘It doesn’t give anyone in the district an actual choice.’’
Jeffares remained quietly confident however.
‘‘I think one of the beauties of a small community like Stratford is that they know who they’re voting for,’’ he said. ’’In some of the bigger wards people are trying to chose who to vote for from a blurb. I think there’s a sense of familiarity with my name and people know what kind of job I’ll do.’’