Buddo, who is heading back to farming life, conceded defeat and wished Schollum well.
He said he was disappointed but wished her and the new council “all the best and every success”.
“I’ll have a bit of a rethink and see where that takes us going forward.
“In the meantime, I’ll be working on the farm and at the end of the day, I like farming.”
In the Hastings-Havelock North ward, where 17 candidates were vying for seven seats, preliminary results have seen Nick Ratcliffe jump to seventh place, winning him a seat, while Rizwaana Latiff fell to eighth and out of council.
It remains tight, just 27 votes between them, with special votes still to count. Gareth Freeman is another 75 votes further back in ninth.
The voter return in Hastings was 44.71% of the electoral roll.
Depending on the counting progress, the final results are anticipated to be available by Thursday, October 16.
Mayoral candidate and councillor since 2016, Damon Harvey, who was sitting fourth and not restanding as a councillor, said he was grateful to all those people who supported him.
He said he had given his all to the community for more than 20 years.
“I’m not going to stop here. Another door will open,” Harvey said.
“It’s time to focus on our business interests and new governance opportunities as well as spend more time with the family, hit some mountain bike trails, the surf.
“I wish the new mayor and councillors all the very best.”
Harvey said, moving forward, the council would need to “lift its accountability to the community”.
“That was the glaring topic during the election campaign based on the rates hikes.“
He said a frequent question he faced was around why rates had risen so much, and there appeared to be a disconnect between the higher rates rises in recent years and the community’s understanding of the demands the council had been facing – from the cyclone recovery to replacing water infrastructure.
“I think the council needs to do a better job of making people really aware of that.”
He said he was proud of his time on council, particularly his transparency and accountability to the community.
Results
Mayoralty votes
SCHOLLUM, Wendy 7007
BUDDO, Marcus 6462
GIBSON, Steve 5693
HARVEY, Damon 5413
WILSON, Darrin 1087
Mōhaka general ward (one vacancy)
NOWELL-USTICKE, Derek 699
GOLDSTONE, Pagen 595
SCOTT-MCLEAN, Kirsty 509
Heretaunga general ward (two vacancies)
As the number of nominations received did not exceed the number of vacancies, Alwyn Corban and Hana Montaperto-Hendry are elected unopposed.
Hastings-Havelock North general ward (seven vacancies)
GIBSON, Steve 7464
FOWLER, Michael 6542
LORKIN, Yvonne 6414
WATKINS, Kevin 5890
ROSS, Callum 5274
NIXON, Simon J H 4531
RATCLIFFE, Nick 4415
LATIFF, Rizwaana (Riz) 4387
FREEMAN, Gareth (Gus) 4312
MCELWEE, Lucie-Jane 4033
SUPRA, Jacqueline 3704
WILSON, Darrin 3512
HICKEY, Bernard 3167
ROBEN, Rion 2827
BENNETT, John 2760
WARD, Debbie 2313
AHMED, Sayeed 2004
Flaxmere general ward (one vacancy)
O’KEEFE, Henare 669
HEKE, Henry 530
Kahurānaki general ward (one vacancy)
As the number of nominations received did not exceed the number of vacancies, Elisha Milmine is elected unopposed.
Takitimu Māori ward (three vacancies)
TE AU-SKIPWORTH, Heather 2486
JESSUP, Kellie 1812
DANIEL, Siiam 1143
GREENING, Sarah 1120
O’CONNOR, Bevan 1061
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.