Two fresh faces were welcomed to the City of Busselton council at a special meeting on Monday following the local government election.
Kelly Hick and Lyndon Miles joined the team along with mayor Grant Henley and Rob Bennett who were re-elected to the council.
At Monday’s meeting, Mr Henley was re-elected as mayor by his fellow councillors 8-1, after Ross Paine also put forward a nomination for the position.
Mr Henley said he was proud to be re-elected to the position and believed the election results were reflective of the work council was doing.
“I know there is need for improvement and it is good to see two new councillors on-board and another female councillor,” he said.
“I want to thank former councillors Gordon Bleachmore and Terry Best for their hard work over the last eight years.
“We have some challenges ahead of us with the current economy and state government.”
During the meeting, Mr Paine said while he believed the council had achieved great things in the community, he thought things were being achieved through too much team work and highly contentious issues were being agreed to outside of council meetings.
Mr Paine said he put forward his nomination because he did not want to see councillors sidelined during the process and wanted electors to have more confidence in elected members.
Mr Henley was voted in 8-1.
Three councillors put up a nomination for the position of deputy mayor including Mr Paine, Paul Carter and John McCallum who was elected 5-2-2 by his fellow councillors.
Mr McCallum said being elected into the position was a statement from council that would help bring about balance for the whole city in geographical and political terms.
He said results from a recent survey had shown that Dunsborough residents felt they were underrepresented at council and his position would help add a feeling of balance across the city.
“Having a deputy mayor based in Dunsborough should provide more balance,” he said.
The weekend’s results saw Mr Henley receive a majority of votes, which was followed by a close-knit race for the remaining three seats. Former councillor Terry Best missed out on retaining his seat by 75 votes.
Out of the 13 candidates who ran for council, eight were women and only one was elected, Lorrae Loud missed out on a spot by 121 votes.
With Ms Hick being successful, the council now have two women representing the city including councillor Corallie Tarbotton.
