Mayor of Whangārei

The Mayor of Whangārei is the directly elected head of the Whangarei District Council, the local government authority for the Whangarei District in New Zealand, which it controls as a territorial authority. The position has existed since 27 October 1896, when the Whangarei Borough Council was constituted.^[2] Later the mayor presided over Whangarei City Council. The position has existed in its present form since 1 November 1989, following the amalgamation of Whangarei County Council, Whangarei City Council and Hikurangi Town Board.^[3] The mayor is supported by a deputy mayor.^[4]

Mayor of Whangārei
Incumbent Vince Cocurullo
Style	His/Her Worship
Seat	Whangārei
Term length	3 years, renewable
Formation	27 October 1896
First holder	James Miller Killen
Deputy	Phil Halse
Salary	$163,689[1]
Website	Official website

Map of the Whangārei District within Northland

The mayor has significant executive powers, their own staff and the ability to appoint the chairpersons of the council's committees.^[5][6]

List of mayors

The following table is a complete list of the mayors of Whangarei since the formation of Whangarei Borough in 1896.^{[2][7][8][9][10][11][12]}

	Name	Portrait	Term of office
1	James Miller Killen		1896–1899
2	William Corns		1899–1901
(1)	James Miller Killen		1901–1902
(2)	William Corns		1902–1904
(1)	James Miller Killen		1904–1905
3	Harry Weaver		1905–1908
4	Thomas McClintock		1908–1910
5	Thomas Herbert Steadman		1910–1914
6	Donald William Jack		1914–1917
7	John Samuel Dent		1917–1921
8	Donald Alexander McLean		1921–1925
9	James Edmund Holmes		1925–1927
10	Leonard James Brake		1927–1929
11	William Jones		1929–1953
12	Horace William James		1953–1954
13	Les McKinnon		1954–1956
14	Frank Johnson		1956–1968
15	Ken Haslett		1968–1977
16	Ted Elliott		1977–1983
17	Joyce Ryan		1983–1989
18	Stan Semenoff		1989–1998
19	Craig Brown		1998–2004
20	Pamela Peters		2004–2007
(18)	Stan Semenoff		2007–2010
21	Morris Cutforth		2010–2013
22	Sheryl Mai		2013–2022
22	Vince Cocurullo		2022–present

Deputy mayor

The deputy mayor is the second highest elected official in the Whangarei District Council. The deputy mayor acts in support of the Mayor of Whangarei. It is the second highest elected position in the council. However, like the position of Deputy Prime Minister, this seniority does not necessarily translate into power. They are appointed by the mayor from the elected ward councillors.^[6] The current deputy mayor is Greg Innes, who currently represents the Whangarei Heads Ward ward on the Whangarei District Council. Innes was announced as deputy mayor in October 2019, and assumed office upon the swearing in of the new council.^[13]

Beyond committees of the whole council, the deputy mayor is an ex-officio member of the following Whangarei District Council committees:^[14]

• Community Development Committee
• Finance and Corporate Committee
• Infrastructure Committee
• Planning and Development Committee

The deputy mayor may be appointed to additional committees that the mayor wishes to appoint them to. The following table lists the deputy mayors since the local government reforms of 1989.

Mayor	Deputy mayor	Term of office
Stan Semenoff
Craig Brown
Pamela Peters	Phil Halse	2004–2007
Stan Semenoff	Kahu Sutherland	2007–2010
Morris Cutforth	Phil Halse	2010–2013
Sheryl Mai	Sharon Morgan[15]	2013–2019
	Greg Innes[16]	2019–present

References

1. Edmunds, Susan (13 June 2024). "How much your local council gets paid". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
2. "Fifty years progress". The Sun. Vol. 1, no. 249. 11 January 1928. p. 11. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
3. "Local government amalgamation". parliament.nz. New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
4. "Councillors". www.wdc.govt.nz. Whangarei District Council.
5. "Councillors and Mayors". www.localcouncils.govt.nz. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
6. "Role of the Mayor". www.wdc.govt.nz. Whangarei District Council. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
7. "Mayors' services". Otago Daily Times. No. 27535. 1 November 1950. p. 4. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
8. "Jones, William". New Zealand Card Index. Auckland Council. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
9. "James, Horace William". New Zealand Card Index. Auckland Council. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
10. "Johnson, John Frank". New Zealand Card Index. Auckland Council. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
11. Barrington, Mike (24 August 2012). "Piece of city's civic history found". Northern Advocate. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
12. "Whangarei mayors over the last 50 years". Whangarei City 50 years. Northern Advocate. December 2014. p. 3. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
13. "Whangarei Deputy Mayor and Committee Chairs Appointed | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
14. "Council Committees". wdc.govt.nz. Whangarei District Council. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
15. "Whangarei Mayor cements stable leadership with deputy mayor re-appointment". Scoop Regional. 19 October 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
16. Ali, Imran (25 October 2019). "Greg Innes named new deputy mayor of Whangārei; committee chairs appointed". Northern Advocate. Retrieved 22 May 2021.