Mark Bell-Booth | |
|---|---|
| Bell-Booth in 2002 | |
| 26th Mayor of Palmerston North | |
| In office 2001–2004 | |
| Preceded by | Jill White |
| Succeeded by | Heather Tanguay |
Mark Rex Bell-Booth was mayor of Palmerston North for one term,from 2001 to 2004. [1]
He became known through his "Save the Avenue" campaign. [2] He is best known for the redevelopment of The Square,which happened during his mayoralty. [3] In the 2004 local elections he lost the mayoralty to Heather Tanguay. [4] He made headlines when it became known that he lent his wife's car to a known gang member. His time at the council was described by a political commentator as being more akin to that of a chief executive than a mayor. [5] He contested the mayoralty again in the 2010 local elections and came a distant second against incumbent Jono Naylor,with 2,229 votes against 16,717. [6] [7]
From 2004 to 2008 Bell-Booth was chief executive of Assetta,a software development company. Since then he has been a director of Unlimited Realities,a designer of touchscreen software applications. [4]