Angela Holt
Ange Holt has been re-elected chair of the Te Awamutu Community Board.
She won the race from new board member John Wood.
Wood was confirmed as a board member after final votes counted pushed him 41 ahead of Norris Hall, who had led on the night counting started.
Holt was backed by Kane Titchener, Jill Taylor and Sally Whitaker.
Whitaker and Wood are both new board members. The replaced Gary Derbyshire, who retired mid-term, and Richard Hurrell, who did not seek re-election.
Wood, a 72-year-old semi-retired plumber was backed for the job by the two district councillors appointed to the board. His nomination by Pirongia-Kakepuku Ward councillor Bruce Thomas was seconded by Te Awamutu-Kihikihi Ward councillor Lou Brown.
The vote reflected a similar division by numbers on some issues during the last term.
Wood says he arrives as a new board member who is familiar with local government procedures thanks to his background with community groups and his connections to local councillors.
He chaired the Pirongia Community Association for 11 years, is a trustee of CommSafe and is on the executive committee of the Returned and Services Association.
“For me, that makes my job a little easier… it is just an opportunity to put some of my skills back into the community,” he said.
Wood believes his networking helped him to secure his 41-vote lead over Hall.
John Wood
“Considering that he is better known in town than I am, I just think the little bit of networking I have around me managed to sway the votes in the right direction.”
He joins the community board with no specific agenda apart from making sure “what the community wants is pushed forward to council.”
He believes the board should to develop a better working relationship with the council.
“I think we have just got to work as a team,” he said. “If we get a good rapport with the council and the council staff, that will make a big difference.”
