A CITY ON HOLD
Andy Foster campaigned on regaining momentum for Wellington but his first days as mayor elect have seen him stalled in a struggle of political will.
Before Foster’s first week was up, he had missed his deadline to announce his deputy and the political rival he unseated by just 62 votes raised the prospect of a recount.
Sources now say Foster, who had run for mayor twice before, is unable or unwilling to announce portfolio leaders before repairing a rift dividing councillors down a loose Left-Right divide, which has delayed his deputy announcement indefinitely.
‘‘If I don’t put a timeline, you can’t nail me for it,’’ Foster said yesterday.
He later said his ‘‘ideal’’ was to announce the deputy and portfolio leaders by council inauguration on October 30 but that date was not locked in.
Meanwhile, Foster’s entitlement to the mayoralty may yet be challenged by former mayor Justin Lester, who has until Friday to request a recount.
Lester said he had been approached by hundreds of people and many dozens on the street each day saying ‘‘Go for a recount’’ as they questioned the final result.
‘‘A lot of mistakes were made, and the process has been flawed,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve seen countless stories already coming out where
people didn’t receive voting papers, they posted them and may not have been received in time through the postal ballot.
‘‘You have got to uphold the integrity of the election.’’
To grant a recount, a district court judge must be convinced the result would be materially different.
Electionz.com chief returning officer Warwick Lampp said ‘‘the cutoff is absolute’’ for late postal votes – there was no precedent for them to be included in a recount.
A judge would determine who would foot the bill for the recount, should it go ahead.
Lester said the council was insured for recounts. ‘‘You can’t put a price on democracy.’’
Foster said the possibility of Lester winning on a recount seemed ‘‘most unlikely’’ and the possibility one might be called was a ‘‘distraction’’.
‘‘I’m trying to get on with doing the job and there is an enormous amount to do.’’
He warned some of the cost of a recount may be picked up by ratepayers.
The council confirmed it had election insurance for up to $50,000 but would ‘‘have to pay the balance’’, he said. The estimated total bill would be about $100,000.
Whoever requested a recount might also be asked to chip in, Foster said.
Meanwhile, one councillor, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, understood that Foster was waiting for tensions – brought about by the shock loss of Lester – to simmer down before announcing portfolio heads.
Foster would not confirm this but said he was talking to all councillors about their aspirations. ‘‘We are all wanting to get a better city. We may disagree sometimes about what that looks like.’’
Wellington City Council sources said a group of Leftleaning councillors had warned Foster that he had to announce one of them as deputy mayor as they would block his most likely centre-Right favourites.
According to council standing orders, the mayor must preside over a local authority meeting when he is present. If he is not present, the role falls to the deputy mayor.
But if there was no deputy mayor, the councillors at the meeting must elect a stand-in person to preside.
The Local Government Act gave the mayor powers to appoint a deputy and committee chairs but a territorial authority also had the power to remove the mayor’s appointees.