Councillor Clare Williams was appointed South Gippsland Shire Council mayor on Wednesday, with her predecessor Nathan Hersey returning to the deputy mayor post he held in the first year of the current council’s term.
Expressing her appreciation of the contributions of Cr Hersey and Cr Mohya Davies during their terms as mayor, Cr Williams said each brought their own strengths to the role and she will do likewise.
Cr Williams told the Sentinel-Times she will have a strong focus on making herself accessible to people around the shire.
“I’ll show my strength through a deeper connection,” she said, noting she is one to wear her heart on her sleeve.
The new mayor looks forward to continuing to work with the rest of the councillor group.
“I’m team orientated, and I concentrate on growth within the group making sure we’ve got a succession plan in place and setting up the next term for success, whoever that may be,” Cr Willams said, looking ahead to the council election in a year’s time.
She believes the fact she is ready to embrace the responsibility of mayor is testament to the high-quality induction for the inexperienced councillor group and the ongoing support provided.
“Absolutely not,” Cr Williams declared when asked if she imagined at the beginning of her first time on council she would be mayor by last year of the current term.
“I just wanted to come in and learn as much as I could but this organisation and (council CEO) Kerryn (Ellis) has shown that a well-inducted councillor can achieve so much because they have access to information and opportunities within the sector to grow themselves, and that’s what I’ve done,” Cr Williams declared.
She gave the example of joining the Australian Local Government Women’s Association (Victoria), of which she is a director.
CEO Ellis said it has been a privilege to work with all nine current councillors.
“It was fantastic to have Mohya as mayor in the first year (of the council term) with the experience she brought but it’s been terrific to see how quickly the other eight councillors have invested in the community and learnt so much about the role,” she said.
Cr Hersey looks forward to supporting the new mayor and appreciates the support of other councillors in backing him for a leadership position in all three years of the council term.
