As you may have seen elsewhere by now, last Thursday saw the first official public meeting of the new Council. A quick meeting of only 15-20 minutes, the purpose was solely to elect a Mayor and Deputy Mayor. The meeting also sets the term (we can choose 1 year or 2 years) and whether to even have a Deputy Mayor (why wouldn't you?).
Paul Barker and Mike Bodsworth were the candidates for Mayor, with Mike being elected. I think this is a sensible choice given that Mike has been Deputy for the last 2 years giving him significant exposure to the role (he has filled in for Mayor on a few occasions during the last Council term), and he has a measured style that should get us off to a good start this first year of the new Council.
Candidates for Deputy Mayor were Libby Stapleton, Paul Barker, and Adrian Schonfelder. Libby was elected - again, I think a very sensible result for our first year, as the Deputy is now expected to provide much more support to the Mayor and Libby has 2 years' experience as Mayor to be able to step in and/or assist as needed.
We are now halfway through our 2-week induction program and there has been a lot to take on board - how the Shire is structured, the legal stuff that applies to Councillors (including all the changes to the Local Government Act that came into effect just last month), what needs to be done over the next 12 months, and much more. This week is less background stuff and more getting-into-it stuff. Going to be interesting! We're also gearing up for our first 'proper' Council Meeting on Tuesday 21st November, to be open to the public plus livestreamed as usual.
Councillors now have their official contact details, so head over to surfcoast.vic.gov.au/About-us/