Council held a Statutory Council Meeting tonight at 6pm. The meeting was held online via Microsoft Teams and livestreamed to YouTube.
Council resolved the following:
The Mayoral Term will be for one year.
Council considered the inclusion of the role of Deputy Mayor and Council has determined that the office of Deputy Mayor will not be established.
The CEO Ms Liana Thompson facilitated the election in accordance with the Local Government Act 2020 and the Governance Rules. Cr Tony Driscoll was nominated and elected Mayor without contest. Cr Driscoll will take on the position from Cr Murray Emerson, who has served as Mayor for the past two years.
Cr Emerson was first elected to Council on 27 October 2012 and has served four terms as mayor from 2014-15; 2015-16; 2019-20 and 2020-21 since becoming a councillor.
Cr Driscoll, who represents the Kara Kara Ward of the shire, said the role of Mayor was both a tremendous honour and undertaking following in Cr Emerson’s footsteps.
“I would like to thank the outgoing Mayor Cr Murray Emerson for steering our Council through a very difficult period in time. Murray has made a significant contribution to the shire as a community focussed and supportive municipal leader during the pandemic on top of the many terms he has served as mayor previously,” he said.
“I am looking forward to my time as mayor, knowing that I will be working with a tightly knit Council and the equally committed and community-minded Ms Liana Thompson as CEO, to lead our shire to an economic and social recovery with many exciting developments underway and on the horizon.
“We have a shared vision with the community to “love where we live” and we intend to keep our residents informed and engaged every step of the way towards this goal.”
Cr Emerson has every confidence in Cr Driscoll to represent the people of the Northern Grampians Shire and perform the role of mayor with competence and conviction.
“I am very happy to be passing the baton to Cr Driscoll and wish him the very best in his Mayoral appointment,” Cr Emerson stated.
“It can be a demanding but very rewarding role; I know Cr Driscoll, with his many years of experience as a councillor and a previous mayor, will excel and help deliver fantastic outcomes for our shire.”
