South Waikatomayor retiring
She’s stood up to red-faced ratepayers, stared down combative councillors and locked horns with tight-fisted governments but after 24 years in local government the time has come for Jenny Shattock to pass on the mayoral chains.
Shattock has decided to step down and not contest October’s local body elections saying it’s time to hand the reins over to someone new and spend quality time with her family.
Now 67-years-old, Shattock served nine years as a councillor and a further nine years as deputy mayor before winning the 2016 mayoral election.
‘‘Local government is changing, but I’ve loved every second of it, and I’m passionate about what I do but my time is over and it’s time to move on to new, younger and more diverse ideas.’’
Born in Putāruru and raised in Tokoroa, Shattock was also married in the district and calls herself a true local.
She began her local government career for all the right reasons, but first and foremost it was all about creating change.
‘‘I was a town centre manager supporting local businesses, arranging promotions, the Christmas parade, market days and all of that.
‘‘I was asked to approach the council at the time and see if they could do an upgrade – put new footpaths in and create a theme for the town centre in Tokoroa.
‘‘The council said no and we as a business group weren’t happy with that and I suppose it was a natural flow from working in the town centre and with council, because I wanted to get in there and make it happen.’’
More than two decades later she said the last few years had become increasingly difficult in terms of abuse and harassment, a problem she put down to the influence of social media.
‘‘You have got to have pretty broad shoulders because you do get a lot of flak.
‘‘It’s something that does worry me for local government.
‘‘Social media can be fantastic, but unfortunately you get those keyboard warriors who
‘‘Local government is changing, but I’ve loved every second of it, and I’m passionate about what I do, butmy time is over and it’s time to move on to new, younger and more diverse ideas. ’’
Jenny Shattock
SouthWaikato mayor
don’t realise they are talking to a person or about a person.
‘‘It can be pretty confronting, and I’m like everyone else – I hurt and I bleed.
‘‘People are natural pleasers but when it doesn’t happen you can beat yourself up, without other people doing it for you.’’
She said being mayor is a 24/7 job that is a full time commitment and is all encompassing.
‘‘There’s a lot of reading and being able to read quickly and absorb the salient points is a real skill.
‘‘You also have to be a mediator, be resilient and be able to listen.’’
She said her leadership style was all about working as a team, but that hasn’t always been easy.
‘‘I like to take people with me, and I’ve struggled hard over that.
‘‘In saying that, I don’t back down and I’ve been called a terrier, so I can snap at ankles when I need to.’’
Shattock said there was a lot the council could be proud of since 1989 when the district council came into existence.
‘‘I’m only the third mayor, so we’ve had a very stable council in terms of leadership.’’
She said previous mayors had it tough with a declining population and jobs were hard to find.
‘‘But in my six years we have been able to address growth and have a quick turnaround from a deprived and declining population to thinking widely about addressing growth and attracting people.
‘‘We’ve got 600 new sections, we have rezoned some land in Putāruru and focussed on economic development.
‘‘We launched our Space to Grow website, and we have a very good economic development manager whose networks are huge...and we are getting a lot of business moving into the district, for example the new dairy factory and trades training centre.
‘‘We have done the skate park and basketball courts, and the Leith Pl tidy up.
‘‘Then there’s the water park in Putāruru, the closing of the landfill and the setting up of transfer stations, and the move from rubbish bags to wheelie bins.’’