Sir Barry John Curtis (born 27 February 1939) is a retired New Zealand local-body politician, who served as

mayor of Manukau City The Mayor of Manukau City was the head of the municipal government of Manukau City, New Zealand, from 1965 to 2010, and presided over the Manukau City Council. The mayor was directly elected using a first-past-the-post electoral system. The last ...

from 1983 until 2007. When he announced his intention to retire in 2007, he was New Zealand's longest-serving mayor at that time.

Early life and family

Curtis was born in Auckland on 27 February 1939, the son of John Dixon Cory Curtis and Vera Gladys Curtis (née Johnson), and educated at Otahuhu College. He undertook further study through the Technical Correspondence Institute, Wellington, and the University of Auckland, gaining a Diploma of Town Planning, and eventually becoming a town planning consultant and registered surveyor. In 1961, Curtis married Miriam Ann Brook, and the couple went on to have three children.

Career

Curtis was first elected as a

Manukau City Manukau City was a territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, that was governed by the Manukau City Council. The area is sometimes referred to as "South Auckland", although this term never possessed official recognition and does ...

councillor in 1968, three years after Manukau City was formed and was re-elected in 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1980. He was also elected in 1971 to the

Auckland Regional Authority The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The ARC ...

, the predecessor of the

Auckland Regional Council The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The AR ...

and was re-elected in 1974, 1977, 1980 and 1983. From 1977 to 1983 he was chairman of the Authority's regional planning committee. In 1974, Curtis challenged Gavin Downie for the National Party nomination for the seat of Pakuranga after many local party members became dissatisfied with Downie's performance. He was unsuccessful in his challenge, but was persuaded to stand for the seat at the 1975 general election as an independent candidate. Curtis placed a distant fifth out of seven candidates with 356 votes (1.46% of the vote). Downie was re-elected. Curtis was elected Mayor of Manukau City in 1983, and was re-elected in 1986, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2004. He stood down in October 2007 at the triennial elections, after 39 years of continuous service to the people of Manukau and the Auckland Region. He was succeeded by Len Brown. In 1990, Curtis was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

, and in the

1992 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1992 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

, he was appointed a Knight Bachelor, for services to local government and the community.

Honorific eponym

Barry Curtis Park Barry Curtis Park is a park named after Barry Curtis in Flat Bush, Manukau City of which the first stage was opened in April 2009. At , it is one of New Zealand's largest parks, of a size as has not been established since the Auckland Domain i ...

Flat Bush Flat Bush (also known as Ormiston or Flatbush) is a southeastern suburb in the city of Auckland, New Zealand. It has recently become one of the city's largest new planned towns after being developed as a rural area of Auckland for several deca ...

is named in his honour.

Positions held

*Mayor of Manukau City (1983–2007) *Member of the Auckland Regional Authority (1971–1983) *Chairman of the Auckland Regional Authority Planning Committee (1977–1983) *Chair of the Auckland Mayoral Forum *Patron of South Auckland Hospice, Auckland Hockey Association and many other community organisations in Manukau City *Chairman of the National Taskforce for the Reduction of Community Violence Leaders Group *Member of the Auckland Regional Land Transport Committee (1990–2007) *Deputy Chairman of Auckland Regional Growth Strategy Forum (1996–2007) *Chairman of the Auckland Regional Economic Development Strategy (AREDS) Establishment Group (2002–2006) *Trustee of the TelstraClear Pacific Events Trust Board *Patron of the Pakuranga Tennis Club

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Barry 1939 births Living people Mayors of Manukau City New Zealand Knights Bachelor Manukau City Councillors Auckland regional councillors People educated at Otahuhu College New Zealand politicians awarded knighthoods University of Auckland alumni New Zealand National Party politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election New Zealand justices of the peace