Not time for change: Cr Cunningham re-elected as mayor

COUNCILLOR Brett Cunningham has been re-elected as Golden Plains Shire mayor and will serve with no deputy following a special council meeting on Tuesday.

This will be his second term in the top job and he’s set to lead council into municipal elections in October next year.

Cr Cunningham was the only nominee for the position meaning he was automatically declared as mayor.

He pledged to continue to implement a professional leadership style.

“Good leadership begins at the top of any successful organisation or business,” he said.

Cr Cunningham said there will be a focus on drainage, roads and dealing with population growth this term.

“I think going forward what’s really going to help councillors is this increased money the government is going to give us,” he said.

“We’ve increased the budget to about $1.8 million for drainage but even that’s not enough so any money we can get from the Federal Government will help us.”

Public transport will also be an area of focus over the next year.

“We’ve got a very large demographic of young people in the Shire,” he said. “I’d really like to see a dedicated regular bus service not only in Bannockburn but throughout the Shire.”

Cr Cunningham will continue his role without a deputy mayor, following a motion which saw Cr Owen Sharkey, Cr Clayton Whitfield, Cr Les Rowe and Cr Ian Getsom vote against the idea.

Cr Sharkey said that financial factors, encouraging a more collaborative approach and public perceptions of the role meant it would be better to have no deputy-mayor.

“The elimination of the deputy-mayor role would result in substantial savings associated with allowances and administrative expenses,” he said.

“All councillors would have the opportunity to actively contribute to the decision-making process, fostering a sense of shared responsibility.”

Outgoing deputy mayor Cr Gavin Gamble disagreed with the position alongside Cr Helena Kirby and Cr Cunningham.

“To be the mayor of this expansive Shire and do the role properly is demanding and has many conflicting simultaneous engagements,” he said.

“The role of the deputy mayor is to support and cover for the mayor and from my experience in actually doing the role this has occurred many times.”

Cr Cunnigham agreed, saving that despite working as a full-time mayor, having the support of Cr Gamble as his deputy was important during the last year.

“It is my belief that this position is needed in the shire,” he said.

“There have been times where I’ve had a clash of two or three meetings and I’ve been able to call on the deputy-mayor of the day who was councillor Gamble.”

Following the decision, Cr Cunnigham said he hopes all councillors will pull their weight to take on the duties of deputy-mayor.

“I’d be questioning whether some councillors around this table are earning their $32,000 a year,” he said.

“The reality is a councillor has only got to turn up to one or two meetings a month, but we were getting paid $22,000 a year and we got an increase which all the councillors voted for to $32,000 so I think with that increase becomes an expectancy from the community that you earn that money.

“Going forward I would hope what comes out of tonight is that when people read the delegates reports they see an even spread.”