Eric introduced Te Aroha-born and bred Ash who has been our Mayor for the past three years. 

Ash started off by saying how much he had come to appreciate all the good work done by service clubs such as Rotary. Life had certainly been unexpectedly difficult since being voted in, with the biggest drought in years and then Covid 19... with of course one of the biggest clusters being in Matamata. The world as we knew has changed, now meetings are on Zoom. Government meetings were back to back and only just recently he worked out you could turn the video off and get a "cup" of beer to help get through! The delays caused by the pandemic have then brought on issues of their own... getting trades on site, increases in prices etc.  He gave his views on the proposed 3 Waters entity, being strongly against this as he feels the Government has already decided this will proceed even though there appears to be little support. However in spite of it all he has enjoyed these last three years and as he has been involved with the Council for past 12 years, it's time to step away from politics and devote time back to his family and his panel-beating business.

 

Krishna thanked Ash on behalf of the Club, issuing a certificate and pen, expressing gratitude for his 12 years of service to our community.

 

Hope you're all enjoying reading this, feel free to let me know if you have any comments. 

 

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