Cabonne councillor Ian Gosper was elected mayor unopposed yesterday.
Cabonne councillor Ian Gosper was elected mayor unopposed yesterday.
Cr Janelle Culverson and Cr Lachie MacSmith put their hands up for the job of deputy and Cr Macmith was elected.
Despite calls from Cr Culverson to hold an open vote, the position was decided by closed ballot papers.
Cr Gosper thanked councillors and staff for their faith and support.
He said former mayor Bob Dowling left big shoes to fill.
“He’s done a tremendous job and represented all members equally,” he said.
“It’s very important to protect our rural areas and rural villages.”
Cr Gosper said their was a fair cross-section of councillors to represent the Cabonne area, but he was disappointed nobody in Eugowra stood for election.
He vowed the town would be equally represented.
Cr MacSmith was humbled to be given the job of deputy, saying the future of Cabonne was an exciting time because of the new general manager Andrew Hopkins.
“We’ve got a really good new GM (general manager) who knows council,” he said.
“He said we don’t want to just grease the wheels, we want to take this council somewhere.”
Cr MacSmith said items on his agenda were encouraging local businesses and developing the economy.
Councillors voted to trial a 2pm meeting time on Tuesday instead of Mondays at 9.30am. The trial will go for six months.
Councillors expressed concerns that they did not have enough time to query the business papers with staff over the weekend.
nicole.kuter@ruralpress.com