Preliminary results show Alex Walker returns as Mayor for Central Hawke’s Bay

Early results in for Central Hawke’s Bay Local Body Elections 2019
show Alex Walker will return for a second term as Mayor to lead Central
Hawke’s Bay for the next triennium.

 Alex Walker returned a 4,276 vote margin at the progress  stage of this year’s
elections.  This result is based upon the counting of approximately 95% of
the returned votes, which sees Walker having returned 4,583 votes in total. Her
rival Darcie Meremere Tū Ahiahi Scowen sits at 307 votes at progress stage.

 The progress result does not include some special votes and votes returned
today that are still in transit to the processing centre.  The outcome of
these elections may change once all votes have been counted.

 An elated Alex Walker said she felt both honoured and privileged to receive
such a strong mandate from her community.  “It’s been an absolute
privilege to serve my community over the last term and I cannot wait to
continue my work as Mayor for this beautiful district in the next triennium.

“We have achieved so much together so far, but we have much more to do.
Delivering a proud, prosperous and thriving district for our communities and
our future, is absolutely at the heart of everything I do and I’m honoured to
have the opportunity to continue.

“It is incredibly exciting to have the new team elected; it is humbling to have
such a strong mandate for my leadership and I am looking forward to the next 3
years of hard work for Central Hawke’s Bay”   

Central Hawke’s Bay is represented by nine elected members which includes a
Mayor, and eight Councillors representing two wards, the Ruataniwha Ward and
the Aramoana / Ruahine Ward, each with four seats.   In August, four
councillors took uncontested positions to represent CHB’s Ruataniwha Ward,
leaving just the four Aramoana / Ruahine Ward seats and mayoralty up for grabs.

Six candidates competed for the four available seats in the Aramoana / Ruahine
Ward - Darcie Meremere Tū Ahiahi Scowen, Kate Taylor, Tim Aitken, Jerry Greer,
Hirani Maaka and Brent Muggeridge.

The highest polling candidate was Kate Taylor with 1,976 votes, followed by Tim
Aitken with 1,719 votes, Jerry Greer with 1,701 votes, and Brent Muggeridge
with 1,578.

 If confirmed on Thursday this will bring three new faces to the council table
for the next triennium.

Ruataniwha Ward councillors Tim Chote, Kelly Annand and Gerard Minehan, all
current sitting councillors, retained their positions uncontested, joined by a
new face Exham Wichman, born and bred in Otane and now living in Waipukurau.

Final declarations will come through to confirm placements on Thursday 17
October once special votes have been counted.

Monique Davidson, Chief Executive of Central Hawke’s Bay District Council
(CHBDC) says: “I want to send a huge thank you to every single one of our
candidates who stood to represent their communities in this year’s elections.
It takes courage, commitment and conviction to put yourself out there and take
to the polls.

“Congratulations to our returning Mayor Alex Walker and our other successful
candidates. I look forward to working closely with all of you over the next
triennium to deliver a proud and prosperous district for our communities.”

Final declarations will be made on Thursday 17 October and a full list of
progress results can be found on our website  www.chbdc.govt.nz/elections2019 and http://www.electionz.com/LGE2019results/elt32ch19_results.pdf

29 October 2019

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