Greg Brownless said the commissioners had outstayed their welcome. (File picture) Photo: RNZ / Ana Tovey
Tauranga's former mayor, Greg Brownless, has congratulated the winners of the city council election, in which he was runner-up.
Initial results show Olympian Mahé Drysdale is likely to be the city's new mayor.
Brownless, in second place, is nearly 5000 votes behind.
The last council was sacked by the government in 2021 and replaced by appointed commissioners.
Brownless said while he was disappointed by the result, he was pleased to see Tauranga have its own council again after being run by government-appointed commissioners since 2021.
"I felt that the commissioners had definitely outstayed their welcome, I felt that Tauranga was just as capable as choosing its own local government, its own mayor and council as anywhere else, and so for me that's a really big thing."
Only 31 percent of Tauranga residents voted - the lowest turnout in a decade.
"It was disappointing because that was one of the tasks the commissioners were given to increase interest in local government elections and it would appear it's going to be one of our worst turnouts," Brownless said.
Only one of the six candidates from the council that was sacked by the government in 2021 has returned to council.
On Saturday, Drysdale said the preliminary results showed voters had elected a team who could deliver a positive future for Tauranga.
"I'm very pleased with the general gist of the council, I think there's some really good skills and really passionate people," Drysdale said.
The final election result will be declared next week, once last-minute and special votes have been counted.