October 20, 2004

Dianne Hale unanimously appointed deputy mayor

North Shore City Council unanimously reappointed Dianne Hale as deputy mayor at its first, largely ceremonial meeting of the 2004-07 term.

Devonport resident and businesswoman, Councillor Hale is serving her fifth term at North Shore City and her third as deputy mayor.

Mayor George Wood is delighted with his council's first decision.

"This is a great start to the term with councillors united in our view that Dianne continues as deputy mayor," says the history-making third-term mayor.

Councillors met for the first time since the October 9 elections and were welcomed with a powhiri before taking the oaths of office.

After briefings from the city's legal advisors and adoption of standing orders to guide debates in the chamber for the next three years, councillors were appointed to serve on the city's six community boards:

Albany: Callum Blair and Margaret Miles Birkenhead-Northcote: Tony Holman, Bob Mitchell and Mike Tafua Devonport: Chris Darby, Andrew Eaglen and Dianne Hale East Coast Bays: Gary Holmes, Julia Parfitt and Peter White Glenfield: Tony Barker and Heather Brown Takapuna: Ivan Dunn and Kevin Schwass

Mayor Wood addressed councillors before the meeting closed with a hymn and a prayer (karakia).

The council will meet again on November 4 when it adopts its committee structure and appoints councillors to be members of those committees. Elections for chairpeople will be held at that time.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>