The mayor presides over the meetings of the Far North District Council.

The mayor is directly elected using the single transferable vote method.

He is a member of the Te Rarawa and Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa Maori tribes.

Then mayor John Carter abstained from voting on the issue.

A non-binding survey of local residents on the issue received 637 submissions, resulting in 231-to-406 in favour of adopting STV.