The Mayor of Whakatane is the head of the municipal government in Whakatane, New Zealand, and presides over the Whakatane District Council. The Whakatane District Council was first formed in 1976 following an amalgamation, with further changes taking place in 1989.
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The current Mayor of Whakatane is Tony Bonne, who was elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2013 and 2016.
Role
The Mayor of Whakatane leads the Whakatane District Council which includes the Deputy Mayor and nine Councillors. The Mayor is a member of all of the council's committees excluding the Hearings Committee and is Deputy Chairperson of the Policy Committee and Chairperson of the Audit and Risk Committee. Additionally the Mayor is a member of joint committees and groups including the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group, the Regional Transport Committee, the Commercial Advisory Board, and the Eastern Bay of Plenty Joint Committee (which is composed of members of the Whakatane, Kawerau, and Opotiki District Councils and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council).
Elections for the Mayor take place every three years as part of the local elections in New Zealand, with the last election being held in 2016 and the next one planned for 2019. The Mayor received a salary of $108,035 plus expenses as of 2016, and holds the title of His/Her Worship.
List of Mayors of Whakatane
The following are the Mayors of Whakatane since 1976. Prior to this, there was a Chairperson of the Whakatane County Council and a Mayor of the Whakatane Borough Council. These two bodies combined along with the Whakatane Harbour Board in 1976 forming the Whakatane District Council. In 1989 the Whakatane District Council amalgamated with Murupara Borough Council and also added a portion of the Opotiki District and a portion of the Taupo District, forming the Whakatane District Council as it is today.
William Sullivan was chairman of the Whakatane Harbour Board (1923–1926) and Mayor of the Whakatane Borough Council (1925–1938) before representing the Bay of Plenty electorate in the House of Representatives (1941–1957).