Emotional last meeting for council
Standing ovations for councillors, mayor at meeting
Four outgoing Western Bay of Plenty District elected members received standing ovations as they gave their valedictory speeches in an “emotional” final council meeting yesterday.
Mayor Garry Webber and councillors Kevin Marsh, Mark Dean and Monique Gray said their final farewells to packed council chambers. Some choked back the tears, while others reflected on their achievements and wished the next council good luck.
At the meeting, Webber said the success of his time as mayor was “not mine alone, it is this team’s”.
“We’ve done some great things in this council; I think we’ve worked reasonably well as a team . . .
“It is a dreamer who thinks you’re going to win everything unanimously, and I have never been a dreamer.”
Webber thanked the councillors’ partners.
“They do a hell of a lot behind the scenes, and I don’t think the public understands what a partner of a councillor or a mayor goes through”.
“For those [councillors] brave enough to continue the fight, I wish you well.”
Speaking to the Bay of Plenty Times ahead of the meeting, Webber, 76, said it was time for him to step down as he did not believe people older than 75 should seek to stand for local government.
“We’re supposed to be doing strategic planning for current and future generations . . . in my opinion, their thought processes aren’t in tune with the younger community.”
He said the new mayor needed to have the ability to listen.
“You’re there to serve the 60,000 [people in the Western Bay], not the 10 or 12 that phone you up all the time and are forever in your ear. They’re the loud minority.”
In his opinion, the future mayor should have experience in local government.
“I think you have to have done at least one term on council as a councillor because it is a very complex business . . . we turn over $100 million a year, and have a staff of over 300. So in terms of New Zealand, it’s a big business.
“You need to understand the government laws, and they are very prescriptive . . . if you think you’re going to come in and change things, well, you’ll learn very quickly in your first week that is impossible.”
He said the biggest lesson he had learned in his time on council was that “democracy is not a skill test”.
“I came from a career where to get a position of any significance, on a board or anything like that, you had to go through an interview process and you had to prove you had some skills, and you had some experience.
“But in local government, and I suppose central government, so long as your 150 words is reasonably sensible and the photograph’s okay, that’s all people decide [on].
“Democracy delivers a group of people, and then after that, you’ve got to work with those group of people to try and make progress.”
He believed his biggest achievement was getting many of the councillors to understand mana whenua was a significant component of the New Zealand landscape.
Webber cited Panepane Point, Taha Taharoa, and Tahawai reserve as instances where the council was involved in “fixing some wrongs from the past”.
“I find that’s the most significant thing I’ve been involved in.”
Webber thought his time as mayor had been successful.
“We’ve been . . . one of the few councils in Australia and New Zealand . . . that have been able to reduce their debt whilst maintaining their services and coping with growth. And that, I think in anyone’s book, is a significant success.”
He was looking forward to spending time with his family.
Kevin Marsh, who had stood for seven terms, said it was “overwhelming” to be at his last meeting.
“I’ve learnt one hell of a lot about the district in our time.
“I guess the older you get, you still keep learning.”
He said his biggest regret was not being able to help alleviate the “abysmal” congestion on Te Puke’s main street.
Marsh choked up when thanking his wife Andrea, who was there to see his speech, and said he could not have done it without her.
“Anyone that thinks they’re going to come in here and it’s a sweet job, has a different thing coming . . . it’s not beer and skittles, I can tell you that.”
Monique Gray told those at the meeting she had developed a slightly thicker skin as a councillor.
“I still take the award for most tears shed in chambers.
Gray described being on council as “a mixed bag of lollies”.
“You never know what you’re going to pull out, and which one is going to have a sour taste.”
Speaking to the Bay of Plenty Times before the meeting, Gray said being on the council had been “worthwhile and valuable”.
She said her biggest achievements included returning Panepane Point, the partial speed review to reduce limits around schools, and getting the Treaty of Waitangi text on the council’s chamber wall.
“That legacy will live on”.
She was also proud of her advocacy for people with disabilities, inspired by her son who uses a wheelchair.
And while Gray said she needed to take some time to spend with family, her career in local government was far from finished.