Meet our new councillor
Having a say on a prostitution bylaw led to Ryan Hamilton becoming a city councillor. Eventually.
It was 2004 when Hamilton stood up to tell a public meeting in Hamilton what he thought.
‘‘I was quite involved in church and that sort of thing at the time and [the bylaw] was a bit of a catalyst for me,’’ he said.
‘‘I stood up at a public meeting and had my say, and then someone said, ‘You should run for council.’ And you’re kind of like, you hadn’t even thought about it. And it grips you.
‘‘Fourteen years later, still gripped.’’
It has taken a few attempts, but the 38-year-old is now a Hamilton city councillor after winning the East Ward by-election with 1931 votes.
He’s missed out before. He’s had several tilts at council, two at WEL Energy Trust, and also tried for the Waikato District Health Board.
He was a bit nervous on Saturday, since he knew unsuccessful city council candidates would be told by email.
‘‘You’re sort of checking your phone, hoping you won’t get an email.’’
He didn’t get an email.
He was sitting on a bench at Hamilton’s Lake Rotoroa when he got the call, while his daughter and a friend were at the Vegan Food Festival.
Five days later, he was sworn in and sitting in a finance committee meeting.
He had a big grin before his maiden speech, but was also a bit choked up at points.
‘‘I’ll try to hold it together for two minutes because it’s a pretty emotional time for me,’’ he began.
His speech touched on the late Cr Philip Yeung’s legacy, he thanked his kids for handing out flyers in the rain, and said his wife, Marie, didn’t believe him when he rang to say he’d made it. ‘‘It’s been a long time coming.’’ Hamilton also thanked his mum, Mavora Hamilton, herself a former councillor.
A search through the archives shows the pair stood against each other in the East Ward in 2004 and were on opposite sides of the prostitution bylaw debate.
Mavora supported a draft bylaw to allow private sex workers in residential areas and Ryan was described as ‘‘among [the bylaw’s] most vociferous critics at recent public meetings’’.
At the time, Mavora said Ryan’s views were essentially those of Destiny Church: ‘‘I think we both recognise we’re coming from different perspectives. We agree to disagree.’’
Ryan was ‘‘quite devastated’’ after missing out in that 2004 election.
He’s got better at dealing with political disappointments since then, but it’s hard not to be hopeful when you really want the win.
Ryan now steps in partway through a council term and with big decisions looming: a long-term plan, the Peacocke area, theatre discussions and potential rate rises.
‘‘We can’t continue to operate the way we have been and borrow money for our operations,’’ he
‘‘I’ll try to hold it together for two minutes because it’s a pretty emotional time for me. It’s been a long time coming.’’ Ryan Hamilton
said. ‘‘We’re going backwards, so that’s not wise stewardship.’’
The city is growing and council has been under-rating, he said.
‘‘People compare [rates increases] to inflation, but we’ve actually grown so much faster than inflation.’’
But he’s excited about the possibilities for the city; for example, with the zoo, plans for inland ports and partnership options.
Ryan is a local businessman. He started pest-control business Bug Off Now and house-cleaning business Grime Off Now.
He has an operations manager, but plans to stay involved with his businesses while on council because he enjoys both business and politics.
He’s learned about governance through the Institute of Directors and set up business networking group Inspire Hamilton, which recently partnered with the Waikato Chamber of Commerce.
And Ryan’s been a trustee for Hamilton Christian Night Shelter Trust since December 2016.
A recent focus has been working out how the organisation can get funding for a paid employee to support manager Peter Humphreys – who also stood in the by-election and was the fifthhighest polling candidate.
Family-wise, Ryan has been married to Marie for 17 years and they have three children: two daughters and a son.
‘‘We’re quite into Cross Fit as a family,’’ he says. ‘‘That’s one thing we’ve kind of all got in common.’’