Councillor in by three votes
Three votes took David Bublitz from defeat to victory.
Bublitz spent the weekend letting his election to the New Plymouth District Council sink in. His win came after the special votes were counted.
When preliminary results were released on October 13, three candidates finished within 10 votes of each other, and Anneka Carlson and Phil Quinney were in, while Bublitz was out.
Bublitz, who coaches the Mountain Airs basketball team, spent last week dealing with losing. He said he used the coping techniques he passes on to his players. ‘‘You work out why you lost and you move on, that was what I had done really,’’ he said. ‘‘I was OK with either way. ‘‘I was already planning what I was going to do with the Mountain Airs next year.’’
He was still holding on to some hope, knowing it must have been close, he said.
It wasn’t until he got a phone call late on Friday that Bublitz learned he was in and Quinney was out.
Bublitz’s tally was 1604 votes to Quinney’s 1601. No other results were changed.
Now, the Mountain Airs will probably have to find a new coach.
Bublitz is the son of long-time councillor and former New Plymouth deputy mayor Lynn Bublitz.
‘‘I am sure his passion for the place has filtered down,’’ the new councillor said of his father.
Bublitz and wife Sally celebrated the election results with his parents, Lynn and Robin, on Friday night.
‘‘I think Mum is even happier than I am about it, and Dad is stoked,’’ he said.
Bublitz, who is director of sport at New Plymouth Boys’ High School, campaigned on the need for more and better sports facilities in the district, and he is hoping to see progress on this in the next three years.
He is one of six new faces on the council, with the other five being Carlson, Amanda ClintonGohdes, Sam Bennett, Dinnie Moeahu and Tony Bedford.
‘‘There are some really passionate people on the council with some really cool ideas, and there is going to be lots of lively debates, it will be interesting,’’ Bublitz said
Fellow candidate Quinney said he was deeply disappointed that he had missed out and was still coming to terms with the news. ‘‘It has been an awful week, absolutely awful. It has been very unfair on all three candidates to go through that for that length of time.’’
Quinney had been hoping for a return to the council, as he was a NPDC councillor from 2001 to 2013.
‘‘I congratulate Dave on his election and have full faith in his ability to be an effective councillor,’’ he said.
The new council will meet on Tuesday afternoon and mayor Neil Holdom will announce soon afterwards who he has selected to be his deputy.
Meanwhile, in South Taranaki, returning councillor Celine Filbee held her seat ahead of newcomer Raquel Cleaver, by five votes.
At Taranaki Regional Council, all results were far enough apart to likely be safe, and there was also no change at Stratford District Council.
The Taranaki District Health Board was yet to release the final results and a chairperson was expected to be appointed by the Ministry of Health at a later date.