Russ Rimmington
He had been treated well by Hamilton voters, I suggested to Russ Rimmington on Saturday night.
They might have dumped him twice – finally last weekend – but they had also consistently backed the Tamahere dairy farmer and businessman him from the time he entered local body politics in the 1980s.
Rimmington, never a step away from controversy, has lost his Hamilton seat on the Waikato Regional Council. The city had previously elected him as their mayor in 1998, then dropped him, and later given him an extended run on the regional council.
The election also saw sitting chair Barry Quayle fail to get back on having jumped at the last minute from the city to Waipā-King Country.
There, Stu Kneebone was returned with former councillor Clyde Graf making a comeback.
He was a member of the Three Waters team compiled by Rimmington, who at least was comforted by the fact that several members were voted in.
Not him though, and it’s two votes in a row that has brought the curtain down on an eventful political career.
But, yes, he agreed that through his political career voters had been good to him.
Rimmington was ousted as regional council chair in May after losing the confidence of a majority of councillors and dallied with legal action to challenge the right of Raglan ward member Fred Lichtwark – with whom he clashed – to have voted.
At the local body polls voters showed their disdain and ousted both councillors.
Rimmington observed he would be 80 at the end of the present term. He is not the first to take on one fight too many.
“I entered politics at the same time as Tim Shadbolt,” he noted.
He did acknowledge that for all the shenanigans of his political career, hatching his latest plan was “probably the craziest thing I have ever done”.
“The time has come to step aside, the voters have been good to me – but they’ve had their say,” he said. “I’m physically tired – it’s time to put my feet up.”
Wife Edwina was shedding no tears when The News spoke to her. The Rimmingtons are dividing their time between Auckland and Tamahere and “I told him I was not running up and down from Auckland twice a week… he would have had to make his own dinner”.
She will continue to follow her interest in art, working in the fertiliser shed the Rimmingtons converted into a chapel on their property.
Rimmington wrote in the forward to his book Hand a man a Spanner he dedicated it to Edwina “who kept the home fires burning and provided constant support as I selfishly pursued my ambitious and sometimes reckless selfish dream”.
Win or lose, an overseas holiday was always on the cards for the couple. This time they can keep politics out of it.
