Gore District Council Mayor, Ben Bell, describes his first 100 days in office as “a challenging, but a fun ride.”

Bell has a lot on his plate for a budding politician and entrepreneur.

He was just 23 when he took office late last year to become New Zealand’s youngest ever mayor.

He was also very new to the district, having moved to Gore from Wellington less than a year prior to the regional elections.

“I ran a company and most of my clients were in Queenstown and Wanaka, so I decided to move south,” he explains.

His first weeks in office had been rather turbulent, with what was intended as a team-building exercise at a 2-day retreat in Cromwell boycotted by a number of invited staff members, his choice of Stewart MacDonell as a deputy mayor opposed by most councillors, and a request for an executive assistant labelled as a “vanity project”.

Ironically, “putting vanity project funds back to Three Waters, roading and recycling” was the number one election priority for Bell.

His second priority was “partnering with agencies to benefit Gore and have an influential voice built on strong relationships”.

Paradoxically, it was the internal relationship building within the council that had to be addressed first.

Councillors loyal to the outgoing mayor, Tracy Hicks, who served six consecutive terms since he won the 2004 elections, found it very difficult to adjust to a new mayor, very young and new to the Gore district.

Bell admits that one of the biggest challenges for him so far was learning to work with his staff. “Another big challenge is being in the national spotlight. I am now recognised everywhere I go,” he says.

Bell’s third election priority, “Showing New Zealand (and the world) the Gore District is a beautiful place to live, work and play”, may have to wait until the first two are well under way.

 His mayoral plans for this year are getting the recycling centre back up and running and developing a plan of how to maintain the Mataura River, flooding being the main concern.

As for his personal life, it sounds like due to the work pressures and being under the media watch, he doesn’t have one.

“It’s a 24/7 job. I have things on every weekend. Ribbon cutting, speeches, opening places, this sort of things,” Bell says.

Asked if he is enjoying his job, he responds with an enthusiastic “Yes”.

“It’s been fantastic, although the first few days were challenging.”

And will he stay for more than one term?

“It’s too early to say. Ask me again in three years,” he says.