Mr Hovell announced his decision to step away from council earlier last week, after going "200 miles an hour" with his work in local government.
For the past 22 years, the consultant-turned-councillor has worked in that space, but said he was ready for a break, tired of his golf clubs and fishing rod gathering dust.
Looking back at his term, Mr Hovell said he hoped he had laid a foundation for Gore for the years to come.
"Things in local government are slow to move.
"I hope what I’ve done has provided a stimulus moving forward.
"I’ve devoted my full time to doing as much as I can for the good of the community.
"[I may not have] got everything 100% right, but that’s human nature," he said.
From the early controversies surrounding the council to most recently spearheading the long-term plan implemented at last week’s council meeting, he was satisfied with his term.
"I’d give myself between a seven and an eight.
"I would say we’ve arrived at a point where we were able to work together with respect."
However, respect from certain aspects of the community was another question.
Mr Hovell said social media had warped public discourse.
"It has enabled vitriolic drivel to be circulated amongst the community. I can cope with people who want to debate an issue.
"A number of people out there are seeing a lot of what is said as being correct rather than uninformed dribble, and the responses are at the person, not the issue," he said.
Negativity directed at staff was a bridge too far for Mr Hovell.
Although he was willing to engage, sometimes it was a lost cause, he said.
"I think in some respects we should have a little pity for them. There’s people out there who, no matter the logic, are not prepared to listen to the facts.
"Think about how much better our community would be if their energies were put into something positive for the community," he said.
Even though he would not be running, he would be keeping a close eye on candidates to see what they brought to the table, especially in their rhetoric, Mr Hovell said.
"The way I’ll vote is having regard to what benefits they bring to the council and the community. People who stand for negative reasons will find out very soon it’s not a constructive role for the council."
The relationship between local and central government and the current way councils were paying the bills were unsustainable, he said.
"We need to have a different funding model other than rates for local councils. Gore doesn’t have an income stream.
"How it’s going to generate more money, clearly it needs to do that by looking at assets being unused and divesting them to pay off debt."
All parties should come to the table to strategise the roles of Parliament, government and councils to help the issues councils were facing around the country, Mr Hovell said.
"Until we get a strategy from government that sets that out, we are not going to resolve how the funding is best sourced and takes place."
