The retirement of four councillors has seen a mixture of former and new councillors voted in by City of Gosnells residents.
In 2019 Gosnells had the lowest voter engagement in the metropolitan area with just 22.22 per cent of eligible voters choosing to return their election packages.
This year was a huge improvement, with 20,829 of the 75,680 posted election packages returned – 27.52 per cent.
This is just shy of the post-ward system historic high of the 27.91 per cent of voters achieved in 2017.
With the retirement of councillors Olwen Searle, Julie Brown, Carey-Anne Harper and Julie Jones, the race for the six open seats on council was bound to bring some changes.
Now-former Mayor David Goode and now-former Deputy Mayor Peter Abetz were both returned to council, with 9,849 and 7,636 votes respectively.
Former councillors Serena Williamson and Terresa Lynes were returned, with Ms Lynes completing a comeback rarely seen in local government.
First time councillors Caren Baayers and Kevin McDonald were also voted in, with Mr McDonald’s 10,730 votes topping the leader polls.
“They want a cleaner city”
Dumped by voters in 2019, Ms Lynes was returned to council following Saturday night’s election and by Monday night she was named Mayor of the City by her fellow councillors.
Having previously served on council from 2015 to 2019, with a stint as Deputy Mayor from 2017 to 2019, Ms Lynes said engaging the community in council decisions would be her top priority.
“As councillors, we are here to serve the community, to make informed decisions and set a strategic direction for the city’s future,” she said.
“It is impossible to serve the community to full capacity without being actively and consciously engaged, and I’m keen to focus on reaching a wider range of people across the city.”
“During the recent campaign process and through closely interacting with our community, it became abundantly clear to me that our community wants to know who their councillors are, they want to feel safe in their own homes and when they walk around their neighbourhood, they want a cleaner city and they want a city they can continue to be proud of,” she said.
“Continuing the great work, the city already does in community safety is a key part of this, and I want to ensure community safety, passive surveillance and lighting are all considered when assessing developments.
“I believe we need to carefully consider the way we manage our natural environment, and continue to develop our parks and sports fields, such as Sutherlands Park, as identified in the city’s sports plan.”
Ms Lynes thanked her fellow councillors for their support in electing her as Mayor.
“I look forward to working together as a team to ensure we deliver what the community are asking for and need,” she said.
Along with Ms Lynes, Adam Hort was voted in as Deputy Mayor on Monday night.
Mr Hort also pinpoints communication and consultation as key.
”We want to be sure that when we deliver these bigger projects such as park redevelopments and road projects, they are done in a way that reflects what the community wants,” he said.
“It is a privilege to represent the residents of our City and I look forward to taking on this new role, fostering constructive and respectful debate in the Council Chambers, and working collaboratively with Councillors, community leaders and the broader community.”
