Last week Gore District Council chief executive Steve Parry was appointed as an international regional vice-president to the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) at its 98th annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
He was installed for a three-year term on the executive board and will represent Australasia.
Mr Parry is one of three international regional vice-presidents on ICMA's 21-member board.
Gore Mayor Tracy Hicks said it was recognition of the high esteem in which Mr Parry was held across both New Zealand and Australia for all the work he does in local government.
Based in the United States, ICMA has 9000 members, from 26 countries. Its mission is to create excellence in local governance by promoting professional management worldwide and increasing the proficiency of chief executives, senior administrators and managers who serve local government and regional entities.
ICMA executive director Robert J. O'Neill said board members were outstanding leaders, not just in their own communities but in professional local government management.
The executive board, which meets four times a year, oversees ICMA's financial, member-related and programme affairs.
Mr Parry began his local government career with the Gore District Council in 1990. He spent three years as Mataura service centre manager before moving to the Waitomo District Council as community facilities manager.
He later joined the Department of Corrections in 1997 as industries manager. Mr Parry was elected Waitomo District Mayor in 1998, serving one term before moving back to Gore in 2001 to become chief executive.
He has been a member of ICMA since 2008 and served as president of the New Zealand Society of Government Managers from 2007 to 2010.
