"Beyer took an interest in local politics after moving to Carterton and returning to New Zealand. She initially succeeded in being elected to a local school board. She became the first transgender mayor in the world, the first female mayor of Carterton, the first Mori mayor in the Wairarapa area, and the first transgender person to be elected mayor when she was chosen in 1995.
Mark Blumsky, the mayor of Wellington at the time, said that she was "extremely competent at her job" in 1996. She won reelection in 1998 with 90% of the vote. Upon her election to the Parliament in 2000, she announced her resignation; in 2004, she said that it was one of her greatest regrets."
