Mills served as the
Mayor of Auckland City between 1990 and 1998. His Mayoral term commenced with a
by-election in 1990 after the resignation of Dame
Catherine Tizard, who had been appointed
Governor-General. The new council had been formed following local body amalgamation in 1989 which saw many of the district borough councils merged into one larger city. Mills' first term oversaw the merger of these many district boroughs into one city. The
Aotea Centre was also opened at the beginning of his term. Other initiatives which commenced on Mills' watch as Mayor included the introduction of the green "wheelie bins", metered user charges for water use, council assets like golf courses were leased to private management, and the city also quit some assets that no longer were of priority, like its abattoir. Other major events during Mills' tenure included work commencing on the
America's Cup Village at the Auckland viaduct, the commencement and opening of the
Sky Tower and Casino complex that now dominates the Auckland skyline, the redevelopment of the
Civic theatre, and refurbishment of the
Auckland Town Hall. During this period, the
1998 Auckland power crisis occurred, which shut down most of the inner city. Mills'
Britomart Transport Centre plans also came under some criticism as being too focused on property development and not enough on transport. His successor
Christine Fletcher led plans for a scaled down Britomart Station without the large property development plans. Mills was defeated in a three-way contest against businessman
Richard Holden and eventual winner
Christine Fletcher in 1998. Mills himself was absent for most of the election campaign, leading the New Zealand team at the
1998 Commonwealth Games, and mentoring the gold medal-winning discus thrower
Beatrice Faumuina. ==Honours and awards==