VETERAN independent councillor Rex Griffin has been elected mayor of the Whittlesea council.
Promising to give residents a voice, Cr Griffin was the only one of three former councillors in north ward to be re-elected as new blood flushed into the council, which now has a Labor majority.
Five new faces lined up last week to be sworn in to the 11-member council – two more than the former council – and two of them, Ricky Kirkham and Adrian Spinelli, are 23.
Cr Griffin was nominated for his second stint as mayor by another long serving-councillor, Norm Kelly, who applauded his community service, including his role as a justice of the peace. Cr Griffin defeated another old-time councillor, Kris Pavlidis, winning the job seven to four.
Two north councillors, John Fry and Pam McLeod, were ousted by newcomers Ricky Kirkham, and Nicola Davis, while Cr Griffin came second after preferences in the three-seat ward.
Three other new councillors were elected – Ken Harris joins former councillors Mary Lalios, Sam Alessi and Norm Kelly in south east ward, while Darryl Sinclair and Adrian Spinelli, join re-elected councillors Stevan Kozmevski and Kris Pavlidis in south west ward.
Long-serving councillor Frank Merlino retired before the election.
Incumbent councillor Lalios, who has served seven years on council including a stint as mayor, captured the biggest number of votes. She had 8120 votes or 26 per cent of the south east vote. The win comes despite an alleged conflict of interest being investigated by the Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate.
In south east ward, the council’s biggest with 44,987 enrolled voters, former councillor Sam Alessi gained almost 15 per cent of the vote, followed by re-elected councillor Norm Kelly with almost seven per cent and newcomer Ken Harris with 5.26 per cent. Of 30,318 eligible voters, 20,749 cast formal votes and 868 cast donkey votes.
