It was confirmed yesterday Cr Laws scraped his way back to the table with 9517 votes, leading former Central Otago mayor Tony Lepper (9496) who missed out by a mere 21 votes.
He put the close call down to a lack of communication with his constituents, but that would be an easy problem for him to remedy.
"I didn't have the contact with the community that I should have . . . so I needed to be much more open," he said.
During the last term Cr Laws was involved in conflict with former chief executive Sarah Gardner and former councillor and chairwoman Marian Hobbs.
He was also criticised online for remarks on his Facebook page which were labelled "sexist".
Mr Laws said there was a "strong possibility" the controversy he had been involved in had impacted his support.
However, he said he was not going to shy away from being outspoken, believing it would not be truthful to "gloss over" the council’s faults.
"If people don't like my directness, that's their problem, I will not lie.
"I will be honest, upfront and direct and if people get offended by that, I'm not responsible for the for their sensitivity."
Mr Laws said he would like to see one of two familiar faces in the hot seat as chair of the Otago Regional Council.
"The two people who most merit consideration would be Kevin Malcolm and Gretchen Robertson."
He believed an urban-rural partnership was "critical" for an effective council and they should not shy away from the possibility of being co-chairs.
"Look at the Green Party, they have co-leaders, I don’t see why that couldn’t apply to a regional council as well."
