KINGSTON councillors elected a new mayor last week. Cr Tamsin Bearsley won a five-three split vote against challenger Cr Steve Staikos at a public council meeting last Wednesday evening (11 November).
Cr Bearsley succeeds former mayor Cr Geoff Gledhill who handed over the mayoral robes after his 12-month stint as Kingston’s civic leader.
Councillors usually discuss who will be mayor at a closed meeting before a mayor is elected in public to resolve any differences of opinion so a new mayor begins the statutory 12-month tenure as civic leader and chair of council meetings with a united council front but councillors broke with tradition this year.
Many votes on contentious subjects since the last council election in 2012 such as the possibility of development in Kingston’s Green Wedge have been split five-four between two groups of councillors, prompting Cr Staikos to publicly put his hand up to be mayor last week.
At the meeting Cr Staikos said he decided to nominate for the mayorship, despite knowing Cr Bearsley had the numbers, because there have been divisions between councillors during this council term.
“I made that unusual decision because I felt I needed to give the councillors and the community an opportunity to see there is an alternative voice and a different voice and view on this council and there is somebody who is willing to offer a variation from the status quo,” he said.
“I really hope we can turn over a new page with this year … and make a shift away from ideological decision making and adopt a principle of consensus based decision making.”
Cr Bearsley was elected to council in October 2012. An identical twin, she lives in Aspendale Gardens with her husband and two children. She works as a specialist IT teacher at a primary school.
In a statement issued last week Cr Bearsley said: “I am proud to live and work in Kingston and look forward to working in partnership with our community to further improve and strengthen the city”.
“We have resolved a number of long-running issues including residential aged care and protecting the northern section of the Green Wedge, but there are always further improvements to be made,” Cr Bearsley said.
“Over the next 12 months council will be aiming to make significant progress on our community hubs at Carrum and Westall that will provide state-of-the-art facilities for local families and continuing to provide quality community infrastructure including playgrounds and sporting facilities.”
Councillors thanked Cr Gledhill for his “tireless work” during his mayorship. The former mayor highlighted the protection of the Green Wedge from waste activities and the start of the construction of the Kingston part of the Bay Trail as major achievements during his mayoral term.
He thanked his family, especially wife Angie, for their support while he was busy representing Kingston at events.
Cr Rosemary West said it is unusual for a councillor to publicly nominate for mayor despite knowing there is no chance of being elected.
“This has been an exercise in democracy. Normally these events are pre-planned to a tee and I can think of only one other year in the 13 years that I’ve been on council that a councillor has been unhappy enough to run against the person who clearly had the numbers to be mayor,” she said.
“I think it’s healthy for people to see there is a choice. Personally, I’ve been extremely unhappy on this council.”
Cr West criticised the majority of councillors for a failed push to “carve up the Green Wedge” for residential development but said the Green Wedge has been protected despite those efforts.
“It’s partly by luck, partly by good management and partly by the [Planning] Minister making it clear he is not going to consider any amendments to rezone any green wedge land for urban development,” Cr West said.
Cr Tamara Barth, while not voting for Cr Bearsley as mayor, welcomed Kingston’s first female mayor in seven years to the role.
Crs Bearsley, Ron Brownlees, Gledhill, Paul Peulich, John Ronke backed Cr Bearsley as mayor. Crs Barth, Staikos and West voted for Cr Staikos. Cr David Eden was absent from the meeting.
Cr Bearsley will be mayor until council elections in October next year. Elections are held every four years across Victoria to elect councillors.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 18 November 2015
