Napier suffered a double blow from service amalgamation towards the end of the century. The local newspaper, the (Napier) Daily Telegraph, was combined with the (Hastings) Herald-Tribune to form a new regional newspaper Hawke's Bay Today. The Napier offices were closed down in favour of locating the offices in Hastings. The next rationalisation saw the closure of the Napier Hospital, and the services were amalgamated with the Hastings Hospital creating the Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital located on the Hastings site.
Local government reform was mooted in the late 1990s and a referendum was held in 1999 proposing an amalgamation of the Hastings District Council with the Napier City Council. Although supported by approximately two thirds of Hastings voters, Napier voters rejected the proposal by a similar number and the proposal was defeated. The Mayor of Hastings, Lawrence Yule, has announced he will be standing for Mayor again in 2010 on the platform of local authority amalgamation
