Foster offers sympathies to Lester
Andy Foster has used his first speech as Wellington’s new mayor to offer his sympathies to predecessor Justin Lester for losing his ‘‘dreams and ambitions’’.
Foster and 14 councillors were sworn in during an inauguration ceremony at the Michael Fowler Centre yesterday. The ceremony involved Lester, who lost a tight race by just 62 votes, officially handing over the mayoral chains to Foster.
Lester has since called for a recount in the hope of regaining his former position.
Shortly following the exchange, Foster used his opening speech to acknowledge Lester and the councillors who were not re-elected.
‘‘Not getting elected – and I’ve seen this many times over the years – is one thing. But being elected once and then not being elected, that’s really tough.
‘‘So my sympathies. Losing your dreams and ambitions is really tough.’’
Foster then turned his attention to the task ahead, and said the message he took away from the election was that people wanted the council to ‘‘get things done’’.
The council was facing several challenges, including managing population growth, redeveloping Civic Square, and putting plans in place to react to the city’s declared climate and ecological emergencies.
He alluded to a struggle in allocating portfolios to councillors over the past couple of weeks.
‘‘Balancing, to say the least, has not always been straightforward – it never will be. But thank you for the give-and-take in doing that work.
‘‘We won’t always agree on everything. Sometimes the road will be smooth and sometimes it will be bumpy.
‘‘At times, we’re going to have to break some eggs to make some omelettes.’’
‘‘Losing your dreams and ambitions is really tough.’’
Andy Foster to Justin Lester