TORRONE SMITH
COUNCIL AT LARGE
It’s been a "long process" for Torrone Smith, but the property and financial adviser did it the right way — leading the polls with over 2900 votes.
Mr Smith said the feeling of being elected was "surreal and pretty overwhelming", knowing not only he was on the council, but with a massive amount of support behind him.
"I’ve done the best job I possible could to make sure people knew what I stand for, who I am, and what I can bring to the table.
"So it’s really nice that people have put their faith and trust in her to do that for the next three years. I hope I can do them proud," he said.
The number of votes was unexpected to Mr Smith, who said it was a really nice feeling, but also a responsibility he acknowledged and will take on for his first term.
"It’s a double-edged sword. It’s amazing, it feels great, and it also feels like a lot of pressure to make sure I do the best job for everyone in our communities," he said.
Mr Smith was getting ready to tackle the myriad of issues surrounding local government, with infrastructure, Three Waters but said he was ready to help where he could.
"It’s going to take a lot of teamwork and effort to get it done. Our community has been suffering with the increase in rates, so it’s about minimising impact where we can.
"It’s all a balancing act, making sure we invest in what’s needed, but also making sure our community can afford to live here also," he said.
MEL CULPIT
GORE WARD
Mel Culpit was "blown away" by the election results, which had her top of the charts for the Gore ward with 2158 preliminary votes.
Mrs Culpit, who works in the agricultural sector, was going back and forth about running for council, talking to councillors past and present, before finally taking the plunge.
To have such a response was "unbelievable", and Mrs Culpit was "blown away" after many months hard at work campaigning and preparing.
"It feels like it’s been a long slog and these last few weeks I’ve been just getting more nervous, wondering if I’ve done enough, if people would vote for me, a natural sort of nerves.
"Then it turned into excitement, like I was waiting for Christmas on [Saturday morning] and when I got the call I thought ‘oh, those numbers are quite good’," she said.
Mrs Culpit said her desire to join the council was to "have a bit of a freshen up" and a change to the table.
She hoped to bring her "common sense" perspective to decision-making, especially for affordability.
"I agree [the] council needs to look at its spending, be a bit more disciplined with what it’s spending, do the basics well and every little thing.
"Households and businesses have been doing that these last few years with the cost of living.
"They’ve been making cutbacks, tightening the belt, and people feel [the] council hasn’t been doing it enough," she said.
Mrs Culpit said she was there to represent the community which had put their trust in her to "represent them and be their voice".
It would be a steep learning curve, she said, but her diligence and hard work as well as openness to feedback from the community had her ready to get her feet under the council table.
NICKY COATS
MATAURA WARD
Nicky Coats will be moving from her role as the chairwoman of the Mataura Community Board to the council table, where she will be the new Mataura ward councillor.
Mrs Coats said originally she wanted to stand for the council earlier, but was advised to "get her feet wet" in governance first.
Now it was finally time to step up to represent Mataura in a new setting.
She had been "really pleased" with her work on the board, having completed several projects to help the town, she said.
Mrs Coats will be joined on the table by longtime Mataura ward councillor Neville Phillips who ran in the "at large" ward, and said it was great to have multiples voice for the town.
"It’s a really good thing for Mataura. We’re both strong voices for it, and we both have a lot of thoughts that we will bring forward for the town," she said.
It would be a big triennium for Mataura and Mrs Coats was already eyeing up projects to continue to improve upon its historic framework.
She was especially keen to begin working with the Railway Heritage Society in reinvigorating the Mataura Railway Station, as was announced earlier in the year by Winston Peters.
She intended to work with staff to improve roading in the town and change the community board’s charter to include more discretion over rates spending as part of her priority list as well.
"Our roads, our streets, our footpaths, they need attention.
"The community board, too, the way it’s structured, we don’t have much delegation in regards to issues like long-term plans," she said.
DONNA BRUCE
GORE WARD
Donna Bruce put her money where her mouth is and the outspoken advocate was elected to the council to help bring change and help out, she said.
Ms Bruce became involved in local politics after the single mother noticed the increasing unaffordability of rates throughout the years.
One of the founders of the Gore Rates Reform Group, she said the group was a way "to get the community to stick together and let them know what’s going on".
Ms Bruce received 1350 votes and would now be an advocate for the community, albeit in a different setting.
"I’ve always tried to be a bit of a warrior for those who can’t defend themselves and that’s why I’m here, to be their voice," she said.
The Gore Rates Reform Group had been controversial at times, but Ms Bruce said she felt extremely welcomed by councillors and candidates during the election, with a belief everyone was working for the betterment of Gore.
"I just hope we can all work well as a team. We all have the same vision, we want to get us out of the hole we’re in and I want to work with them.
"I interacted with all of them during the campaign, everyone was extremely polite, and I want to work with them," she said.
Now, she would take her passionate approach to helping the community and put it to good use, she said.
"I think for the first six months, I have a lot of learning to do.
‘I’m going to do a lot of listening, take advice and find my way.
"It’s about fitting in, getting along with it, and getting things done, to make sure Gore is in a better position than it is right now," she said.
