Helge André Njåstad
| Helge André Njåstad | |
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| Member of the Norway Parliament for Hordaland |
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Assumed office 1 October 2013 |
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| Mayor of Austevoll | |
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In office 12 November 2003 – 4 November 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Olav P. Årland |
| Succeeded by | Renate Møgster Klepsvik |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
5 June 1980 Bergen, Hordaland, Norway |
| Nationality | Norway |
| Political party | Progress Party |
| Alma mater | Bergen Cathedral School (1999) |
| Committees | Standing Committee on Local Government and Public Administration (chairman) |
Helge André Njåstad (born 5 June 1980) is a Norwegian politician for the Progress Party. He was elected to the Parliament of Norway from Hordaland in 2013 where he serves as the chair of the Standing Committee on Local Government and Public Administration. He was mayor of Austevoll from 2003 to 2013.
After finishing high school at Bergen Cathedral School in 1999, he started working in a local graphic design company in Austevoll which he went on to lead.
Njåbakk became a member of the Progress Party in 1997. Two years later, he was elected to the Austervoll municipal council, benefitting from cumulative voting. The Austervoll municipal election in 2003 turned out to be a great success for the Progress party which increased their share of the votes from 19,6% in 1999 to 33.2%. A cooperation with the Centre Party and Christian Democratic Party led to Njåstad becoming mayor. He had been nominated in second spot on the local party's ballot, but cumulative voting again showed him the party's most popular figure. Aged 23, he became Norway's youngest mayor. He was the second mayor ever from the Progress party; the first one being Terje Søviknes from the nearby Os municipality.
The municipality of about 4,800 inhabitants and a large fishing industry and much private wealth was at the time struggling with heavy debt and had been on the ROBEK list for municipalities with negative budget balances since the list was introduced in 2001. Njåstad campaigned on a platform of bringing more positivity to the community. During Njåstad's mayoralty, the budget was balanced, including many cuts in appropriations for schools, child care and elder care, but most decisions had broad consensus. The municipality was taken off the ROBEK list in 2012 after the budget deficit had been turned into a surplus.
Njåstad received credit for turning the local economy around during his 10 years of service. and was voted municipality profile of the year for 2012 by Kommunal Rapport for his successful handling of the economy and having creating new optimism in Austervoll.
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