Jevan Goulter The gay political candidate who has barely been out of the papers in recent days has announced he is no longer running for the Wellington City Council to focus on his bid for Whanganui Mayoralty. Jevan Goulter has been at the centre of two headline-grabbing stories; the first was controversy over a Whanganui beauty pageant winner losing her crown, where he emerged as a spokesman. That was followed by the release of correspondence between current Mayor Michael Laws and a former lover who was an ex-P addict and prostitute, which Goulter was sent by the woman. Laws attempted to pre-empt its release with a public apology. The Herald on Sunday was given the correspondence, but decided not to publish it. Goulter says in recent days he has had to stop and assess what he hopes to achieve in his bid to run for Wellington City Council. "While running a strong campaign in Wanganui I have quiet simply neglected the Lambton Ward as a candidate for council and at this point in time would not deserve to win," he says. "In saying this I also believe that the progress I am making in Wanganui in my bid for Mayor and the work I am doing on the ground and in the community has been seeing a great response from the residents and general public. The residents of Wanganui deserve a Mayor who takes the position seriously and as a full time job." "Let's face it, Wanganui has not had a full time Mayor for the last six years." Goulter says he wants to show the residents of Wanganui how serious he is, and that he is not standing in two different cities as a safety net. "Wellington is a great vibrant city, with so many different things happening, and Wellington deserves somebody who will remain living in Wellington and I can not commit to this entitlement that Wellingtonians deserve." He has endorsed candidate Adam Cunningham for the council seat. "I would also like to thank Wanganui for welcoming me with open arms and being so responsive to my interactions with the community to date."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 18th August 2010 - 9:56am