Young South Auckland Politician Quits Local Politics
One of Auckland's youngest politicians has decided to resign from local politics, ahead of the local elections in October.
Logan Soole, 25, (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa), is a member of the Franklin Local Board.
Soole, who was first elected at just 19 years old, will spend his last day in office in early June.
The Pukekohe local has decided to move to London to join his partner, but promises this isn't the last New Zealand will see of him.
'I will be be back,' Soole said.
'I love this place, Aotearoa is my home, Tāmaki Makaurau is my home and I will be back. When? I'm not sure but I will be back.'
Soole said he and his partner had been in a long distant relationship for almost two years, and it was time to be together.
'It was just a right thing to do. But it's not the sole reason why I'm moving.
'I was elected into this role to represent my community, I've done two terms and got some really impressive change and it was just another factor.'
At just 19, Soole was the youngest person elected to the Franklin Local Board, the youngest of the 170 elected members who made up the Auckland Council in 2019, and among the youngest voted into local government in New Zealand.
'It has been the privilege of my life to serve the people of Franklin and Pukekohe for almost six years – a place whose people have shaped me since I was first elected at age 19.'
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Soole was named Young Elected Member of the Year, for helping his community get vaccinated during lockdowns.
He leapt into action to serve his community when the nation first went into lockdown in March 2020.
'I'm so proud of what we have achieved together and I remain in awe of the selfless, humble members of our community that work away in the background, not for thanks but because they care.'
His resignation from local politics means Soole will also be leaving his volunteer roles on the Pukekohe High School Board of Trustees and the Pukekohe Community Patrol.
'I will be forever grateful that Pukekohe gave that enthusiastic 19-year-old a chance to represent this very special place and its people.'
Franklin Ward coucillor Andy Baker said Soole's departure will leave a gap, but his new chapter of seeing and experiencing the world was also important.
Baker said when he approached Logan to run six years ago, the teenager asked how he could add value.
'I explained that it is important to have different perspectives around the table when making decisions about the future of Franklin, especially someone able to help us 'oldies' understand what our younger generations might think.'
Baker said Soole took up the challenge and it's been a privilege to have worked alongside him.
'Just like his decision to leap into something he had no knowledge about or experience with, he has never been afraid to get involved, work hard to understand issues and put his hand up within the community.'
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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RNZ News
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- RNZ News
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Newsroom
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Why Auckland's 2027 America's Cup bid never stood a chance
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NZ Herald
2 days ago
- NZ Herald
Top 10 bestselling NZ books: July 19
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Tim Stanley of the Telegraph was more acerbic, writing that 'the practicalities of the job don't interest her: this book hinges on how everything felt'. The natural disaster at Whakaari White Island and the Christchurch mosque killings 'brought out Ardern's best: authoritative and sensitive, she has a fine temperament'. But she subtly vilified her opponents, he says: 'I am so kind that anyone who disagrees with me must be nasty; so reasonable that my critics must be nuts.' A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir, by Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Supplied 2. (2) Leading Under Pressure by Ian Foster & Gregor Paul (HarperCollins) Demonstrating the rule that rugby memoirs are a sure bet in the NZ books market, Ian Foster's account of his time as All Blacks coach holds on firmly to second place in the bestsellers. I haven't read the book, but I hope it goes into the – in my opinion – unedifying way he was replaced as coach. 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'Discover how to: — Introduce small, life-changing habits — Master your mindset to align with prosperity — Get out of debt — See real returns by investing in yourself — Protect yourself with insurance — Overcome obstacles to achieve your goals And so much more! 'The lessons in this book will teach you how to become 1% better every day — not only for you, but for your whānau too.' Māori Millionaire by Te Kahukura Boynton. Photo / Supplied You'll find Te Kahukura Boynton on the Listener online's 30 Under 30 – the young New Zealanders shaping our future list 5. (4) The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press) Holding its own on the list is Catherine Chidgey's much praised latest novel, which tells the mysterious, ominous story of three boys in an alternative 1970s Britain. It's a 'tense, compelling, genre-fusing book', said Emma Neale in the Listener. 'There is the hint of submerged identity; of aspiration and prosperity, rubbing skins with disappointment and neglect; a preoccupation with what is authentic and what is fraudulent; the self and truth only dimly visible … Calling on the deeply rooted psychological power of the storytelling rule of three, the novel is divided into The Book of Dreams, The Book of Knowledge and The Book of Guilt. Three women, Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night, care for a set of thirteen-year-old triplets in an all-boy's orphanage. There are three main narrative perspectives: Vincent, one of the triplets; the Minister of Loneliness, a government minister in charge of national care institutions known as the Sycamore Homes; and Nancy, a young girl kept in seclusion by fastidious older parents. This attention to pattern also coolly embodies the quest for order and control, the troubling obsession at the core of the fictional investigation.' 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It touches the lives of people in whatever they do, in the way they act, in the way they think, in the way they learn and in the way their knowledge is shared with others.' Mātauranga Māori by Hirini Moko Mead. Photo / Supplied 10. (4) Whānau by Donovan Farnham & Rehua Wilson (Moa Press) This illustrated pocket hardback, ideal as a gift, aims to improve your te reo Māori one special phrase at a time. Donovan Te Ahunui Farnham and Rehua Wilson offer up dozens of expressions, often with metaphorical or proverbial origins, such as 'He toka tū moana' (stalwart) and 'Kei mate wheke' (never surrender). Whānau by Donovan Farnham and Rehua Wilson. Photo / Supplied Source: NielsenIQ BookScan – week ending July 12.
