THE YOUNGEST councillor elected to Kingston Council is now mayor.
Councillors unanimously voted at a swearing in ceremony for councillors on Monday evening (7 November) for Cr David Eden to be the municipality’s civic leader for the next 12 months.
“It is a great privilege and responsibility to represent our community as Mayor and I will focus on listening to our community, building productive partnerships and seeking out innovative solutions to help make Kingston an even better place to live, work and enjoy,” Cr Eden said in a statement.
Cr Eden was elected last month to service a second four-term term as councillor having been first elected to council at the age of 18 in 2012 while a student at Mentone Grammar.
The new mayor said protecting neighbourhood character, enhancing Kingston’s environment and ensure council’s services meet community needs would be priorities for him during his mayoral term.
It was a case of back to the future with the reinstatement of the deputy mayor role after an eight-year hiatus.
Cr Rosemary West, who has served on Kingston Council for more than a decade, was voted in as deputy mayor.
Crs Tamsin Bearsley, Geoff Gledhill and George Hua requested their opposition to the nomination of Cr West as deputy mayor be noted.
Former Carrum Liberal MP Donna Bauer was the last person to hold the deputy mayor title in 2008 before its temporary retirement.
While there is no extra remuneration involved in being deputy mayor, the incumbent can be called upon to chair public council meetings and speak at events in the mayor’s absence.
Councillors at Monday evening’s special statutory meeting debated whether to bring back the deputy mayor title before agreeing the role’s return was at the discretion of the mayor.
Council elections were held on 22 October.
Central ward councillors are Rosemary West (re-elected), Geoff Gledhill (re-elected) and Ron Brownlees (re-elected).
North ward councillors are Steve Staikos (re-elected), George Hua (newcomer) and Tamara Barth (re-elected).
South ward councillors are Tamsin Bearsley (re-elected), Georgina Oxley (newcomer) and David Eden (re-elected).
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 9 November 2016
This article was amended on Monday 14 November to state Crs Bearsley, Gledhill and Hua opposed the nomination of Cr West for deputy mayor. The decision was not unanimous as previously stated.
