Post-Election Debrief

Dean’s career in public service spans over three decades, including leadership positions in emergency management, economic development, community services and more. Appointed Marlborough District Council’s Electoral Officer in 2001, Dean was responsible for introducing STV elections to Marlborough in 2004. He has served on the Taituarā Electoral Reference Group since late 2013 and was appointed Chairman in 2016. Dean was Co-Chair of a Taituara Joint Working Group that investigated online voting over a two-year period. More recently, he has advised the Fijian government on legislation, process, and structures for the country’s first local government elections since 2005.

In addition to his role in local government, Dean is also Chief Executive of Marlborough Airport, a commercial entity wholly owned by Council. The regional airport welcomes 300,000 passengers per year, while also serving as a lifeline for the community under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002. Dean has also been involved in Marlborough’s emergency response and recovery efforts since 1993, including serving as alternate controller currently as the group recovery manager under the Emergency Management Act. From the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes to recent flood events and COVID-19 response, Dean has led the airport and Council teams in navigating uncertainty.

Dean holds a Master of Arts in Recreation and Leisure Studies from Victoria University of Wellington. Since 1996, he has served as a Rotarian with various leadership roles in the Blenheim community, where he lives with his partner and teenaged son.

Dale Ofsoske is Managing Director of Election Services, providing electoral services, including assistance with democratic reviews, to a large number of local authorities.

He is an experienced electoral officer (since 1985), foundation member and deputy chair to the former Taituarā Electoral Working Party, current member of the Taituarā Electoral Sub-Committee and honorary Taituarā member. Dale is electoral officer for a number of councils, including Auckland Council, and brings his expertise and widespread knowledge on electoral matters to this forum.

Warwick has worked in local government for 32 years, firstly as Administration Manager at Papakura District in 1986 and Central Hawkes Bay DC, then as Returning Officer for electionz.com since 2000.

Warwick is Electoral Officer for 19 councils and 6 DHBs, and numerous public and private sector organisations. Warwick and his team carry out approx 200 elections in NZ each year, most of which use online voting.

Warwick has considerable experience in candidate management and electioneering/campaigning practices, particularly the use of social media by candidates.

Clare joined Taituarā in January 2025, as Manager, Sector Readiness. She brings with her the experience and relationships she developed working with the local government sector for more than 10 years at Local Government New Zealand and more recently at the Ministry for the Environment. Her career includes working for several councils in resource management-related roles.

Clare is working in Sector Readiness, focused on resource management reform and elections. She is particularly interested in working with the sector on implementation challenges.

In her free time, Clare enjoys tramping and walking and making the most of her commute from the Kapiti Coast to read.

Michael is the Manager, Governance and Legal at Invercargill City Council since November 2021 and the Deputy Electoral Officer since 2018. Michael led the elections team during the 2019 Elections as well as two recent by-elections. He joined Council in 2014 as in house Counsel having spent 9 years working in private practice in both Invercargill and Queenstown with experience in local Government law, Resource Management as well as Family Court and Crown prosecutions.

Anusha is an experienced professional in changing political environments with 20 years of experience in government. She is skilled in partnering with elected members to maximise their contribution to the growth of Wellington city. Anusha is passionate about democracy and connecting elected members with their communities.

Anusha Guler began her career in government at KwaZulu Natal Provincial Parliament in South Africa. She was the Deputy Director of the National Council of Provinces.

Anusha’s first job in local government in New Zealand was with Christchurch City Council in 2004 as Democracy Services Manager. In 2007 Anusha joined Auckland City Council as Team Manager Finance and Governance, where she played a key role in embedding a new structure for Democracy Services. She secured a role as Governance Support Manager when Auckland became a supercity in 2010. She is currently with Wellington City Council as Head of Governance.

Dean has been at NZ Post since 2012 and been involved with Local Body Elections and the Elections Reference Group since 2018, working on his first election campaign in 2019 and again in 2022.

Within NZ Post he is part of a team of 9 specialists focused on Mail Services, providing product knowledge and solutions to meet customer requirements, and developing strong relationships with our customers. During the 2022 elections Dean worked closely with Datam and NZ Posts internal Management Teams to deliver the local body voting packs and manage the end-to-end processes. He also coordinated the collection of return votes from the Auckland Council Ballot Box votes.

Outside of NZ Post Dean’s passion is photography and can be found roaming the countryside at unsociable times of the day in search of a grand landscape, or just some peace and quiet.

Born and raised in Matamata, Waikato, with a background in law and philosophy from Waikato University. Kent brings two years of experience with DX Mail and a strong passion for mail and elections. Kent is a lifelong learner drawn to transformative ideas and disruptive technologies. His career spans small startups and large corporations, fostering a wide ranging skill set and adaptability. He thrives in dynamic environments that push industry boundaries and are known for embracing innovation. Outside work, he enjoys adrenaline sports like skiing, mountain biking, and surfing, which inspire bold, creative approaches in professional settings.

Devorah held a variety of business management roles before moving to the public sector, first with Biosecurity New Zealand then moving to local government in 2010.

She is an experienced people leader whose areas of responsibility have included representation issues and elections, governance, information and privacy management, developing and implementing business processes, and cross-organisation projects. Each role has reinforced her strong belief in the importance of good process, informed decision making and facilitating people’s ability to have their say on their things that really matter to them.

She was ‘baptised by fire’ into the world of elections in 2016 with a race that demonstrated the power that just a few votes can have.

In 2020 she moved to Te Tauihu and is currently the Manager Governance and Support Services with Nelson City Council.

Jennifer Parker is the Manager of Governance and Democracy Services & Deputy Electoral Officer at Wellington City Council, moving to this role in August 2019 after an earlier position leading the Council’s City Partnerships team. Jennifer has a background in strategy, communications and mediation with management experience in central government, business and the not-for profit sector. She describes the 2022 inauguration ceremony as a career highlight – the culmination of a successful election, the development of the Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori Ward, the appointment of two mana whenua representatives and the first WCC inauguration to be held on marae.

Brian has over 25 years in the ICT industry working in a number of roles from technical to management. He has been a Project Manager with Datam since 2014.

Brian was the Datam Project Manager for the Local Government Elections in 2022 and 2025. His role involved working with multiple stakeholders, suppliers, and customers to ensure the successful production and lodgment of voting packs within the required timelines for all electors in New Zealand.

In his spare time he enjoys running, spending time with his family and is a local celebrity for his part in the Christmas Lights display in Cambridge.

Mali has a 10 plus year career local government, governance. In her current role she leads two teams, Democracy Services and Tai-ranga-whenua with a focus on all processes related to democracy, supporting council’s co-management arrangements with local iwi and leading policy and strategy work aimed at growing capacity to engage with Māori. Co-governance at Waikato Regional Council has been in effect for almost 10 years now. The introduction of Waikato River treaty settlement legislation was the catalyst for forging long term partnerships with iwi in the Waikato. And with more treaty settlements on the horizon the drivers for change will continue to emerge from this space.

James (Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Konohi, Ngāi Tai) is Director of Internal Partnerships and Protection at Gisborne District Council. He leads teams across People & Capability, Health & Safety, Legal, Information Services, Regulatory Compliance, Public Protection and Maritime Safety. With over 20 years’ local government experience, James brings deep expertise in statutory compliance, governance, corporate services, and partnerships. He is a member of the Taituarā Electoral Reference Group and contributes nationally to strengthening Māori representation and democratic integrity. Known for his calm, values-driven leadership, James is committed to building collaborative, community-focused solutions that reflect the aspirations of tangata whenua and wider communities.

Donald has worked for in local government-related roles for the Local Government Commission and the Department of Internal Affairs for a number of years.

This included working for the Commission in the late 1980s when the New Zealand-wide reorganisation of local government took place and then continuously since 1997. Activities since then have included 9 rounds of representation reviews, several reorganisation processes, and the determination of boundaries, wards and local board arrangements for the Auckland Council in 2010.

For the Department of Internal Affairs, Donald was for a number of years Manager, Local Government Services which included responsibility for some electoral matters – the STV calculator, approval of voting documents and election monitoring. This was carried out alongside the Rates Rebate Scheme, the National Dogs Database and the Lake Taupo Harbourmaster.