Returning to the position of mayor at the City of Gosnells for the third time was like ‘coming home’ according to Olwen Searle.
Ms Searle deposed the previous mayor Dave Griffiths at a special council meeting on Monday.
Former deputy mayor Ron Mitchell was replaced by councillor Julie Brown.
After being elected to the City of Gosnells council in 1979 Ms Searle first served as mayor between 1993 and 1996.
She returned in 2007 but was replaced by Mr Griffiths in 2011.
“It’s like coming home,” she said.
“On Saturday morning this was not on my radar but there were strong opinions and it was all getting a mess so I told everyone on Saturday night I was putting my name in and if I only get one vote it will give me the right to criticise, whereas if I do nothing I can’t.
“When the numbers came in I was amazed, it was not planned.”
Ms Searle said she intended to lead a cohesive council and city with an open door policy.
She hoped to see the city continue delivering quality services while dealing with a high level of growth.
“We have an amazing amount of city growth that has to be well managed so that we can continue to deliver excellent services to the community,” she said.
“It’s critical to get a balance between high density and reasonable sized living blocks.
“It’s all right having high density but we must not lose sight of the fact that we must have a green canopy…if you don’t manage it well you build conflict into your community.”
Ms Searle looked forward to the unveiling of Mills park, which she said would be a model for future redevelopment within the city as well as an iconic facility for the entire region.
The redevelopment of Lissiman Street would also be a positive for the city.
“The thing I hate about Lissiman Street is that it is highly visible from every train that passes into Perth and that is the impression that is carried out but it’s not Gosnells, it’s just one street,” she said.
“The good news is that we’re working towards making that a much better area and this is the nearest we’ve ever been and I think progress will come quickly now.”
The City of Gosnells council also welcomed four new councillors following the local government election at the weekend.
A record-breaking 29 candidates competed for seven positions.
Sitting councillors Glenn Dewhurst, Dave Griffiths and Ron Mitchell were elected for four year terms while councillors Wayne Barrett and Russell Lawrence lost their seats and councillor Ron Hoffman retired.
Newcomers Terry Healy, Terresa Lynes and Liz Storer were elected to four year terms while Bill Wiffen was elected for a two year term, replacing former councillor George Scott, who retired before completing his full term.
This year 15,953 formal ballots were cast by City of Gosnells electors, representing 24.19 per cent of eligible electors, up from about 20 per cent at the 2013 election.
