The Mayor of Buller is the head of the municipal government of Buller District, New Zealand. The mayor is directly elected using the first-past-the-post electoral system. The current mayor has, since the 2013 local elections, been Garry Howard.
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History
Buller District was established as part of the 1989 local government amalgamation of Buller County, Westport Borough and Inangahua County.
Pat O'Dea was mayor for seven terms until his defeat in 2004, i.e. he was the inaugural mayor of Buller District, but was previously mayor of a county or borough council. In the 2001 local elections, Westport lawyer Martin Sawyers came within 335 votes of O'Dea, but in the 2004 local elections, Sawyers had a majority of 1072 votes. Sawyers retired after his three-year term.
The 2007 mayoral election was contested by Pat O'Dea, Pat McManus, and Inangahua Ward councillor Graeme Neylon; McManus was elected. The 2010 mayoral election was fought by O'Dea and McManus, with the incumbent again successful. At the 2013 local elections, McManus retired for health reasons after having earlier declared that he would stand for a third term. The current mayor is Garry Howard, who defeated three-term councillor Margaret Montgomery and Greg Hart, who was first elected onto the council in the Westport Ward in 2013.
List of Mayors of Buller
Buller District has had four mayors: