John Law is a former Mayor of the Rodney District Council, New Zealand, and held that post from 2001 to 2007. He was elected during a by-election, following a period of instability in the leadership and governance of Rodney District Council. He was one of the seven mayors heading the main local government entities generally considered as making up the Auckland metropolitan area (Auckland City, Manukau City, Waitakere City, North Shore City, Rodney District Franklin District Council Papakura District Council), with his district being one of the largest districts and the northernmost entity. John Law was re-elected in 2004, but did not stand for re-election in 2007.
John Law was the first Mayor to declare his district "organic friendly". He was also one of the proponents of greater regional integration between the various districts. He was at one time the Chair of the Mayoral forum of Auckland. John Law was against the Super-City, and his plan was for the ARC to be abolished [1] and replaced with a council of the seven Mayors to lead regional issues with one of the Mayors elected as chair. John Law was cautiously critical of the proposed outcomes of the Super-City and unsupportive of the drive to merge district councils. He later acknowledged the Super-City to be an 'abject failure'. [2]
John Law has also questioned the decision making of the ARC in other ways, such as when he expressed his opinion that the Regional Council should not have a say in land use (zoning) and should stick to dealing with environmental concerns.[3]
In 2022, his grandson Jake Law stood as a candidate in the 2022 local body elections to be a councillor in the Albany Ward (which makes up part of the former Rodney area) and for the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board. Jake was elected to the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board in October 2022. [4] Auckland Council.[5]
References
edit- ^ John Law: Our mayors should anchor the ARC Archived 29 July 2012 at archive.today - New Zealand Herald, Monday 6 November 2006
- ^ Orsman, Bernard (9 September 2006). "Supersized rates bill for super city". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
- ^ Cumming, Geoff (28 April 2007). "Green belt under siege". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
- ^ RNZ "Auckland election: seats change hands". RNZ. 10 October 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- ^ Matters, Hibiscus (6 April 2022). "Coast's second mayoral candidate". Local Matters. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
External links
edit- Council Structure (from the Rodney District Council website)
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