Dunedin city councillors, at a meeting of the civic affairs committee yesterday, voted 8-5 to usher in an era of photographic portraiture to honour former mayors.
The oil paintings of the past were said to be unrealistically expensive endeavours that did not always find favour with their subjects.
Those who argued to keep the decades-long tradition of painted mayoral portraits argued in favour of their lasting artistic value and said their subjects were inevitably photographed many other times throughout their tenure.
Committee chairman Cr Bill Acklin framed the debate as tradition versus moving forward.
"I think it makes perfect sense that we acknowledge our former mayors with photographic content rather than a portrait.
"Costs are very, very clearly massively different in that regard."
Dunedin City Council chief executive Sandy Graham estimated the cost of a painted portrait to be about $23,000.
A photograph "might run to a couple of thousand by the time we framed it", Ms Graham said.
Cr Christine Garey said a painting, though, would be an investment in the arts sector.
Cr Lee Vandervis said painted portraits allowed room for the interpretation of the artist and offered more value than "just another photo".
Cr Jim O’Malley said paintings reflected the work of the time as well as the work of the artist.
Cr Mandy Mayhem said she believed it should be up to the mayor of the day to choose.
"Perhaps you’d like some artistic licence in the way you are immortalised."
It would be "a sad day" if former mayors were merely recognised by photographs, Cr Carmen Houlahan said.
Cr Kevin Gilbert said history offered many examples of photographs that could be evocative and reflective of the time in which they were taken.
And he did not see the need to spend a "gross amount of money" on a portrait.
In favour of photographic portraits yesterday were Crs Sophie Barker, Marie Laufiso, Cherry Lucas, Steve Walker, Brent Weatherall, Andrew Whiley, Gilbert and Acklin.
Voting against were Crs Garey, Houlahan, Mayhem, O’Malley and Vandervis.
The committee yesterday also confirmed the service of former mayors would continue to be recognised by the engraving of a link in the mayoral chain.
New links would be funded from council budgets.
The committee noted that the honours board at the council would be updated with a single entry for past mayors.
It also asked staff to investigate the options, and costs, for a possible mayoral scholarship.
Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich left the council chambers for the discussion and vote.
The first former mayor due for a photographic portrait is Aaron Hawkins, who served last term.
