Betts wins hat-trick mayoralty draw

Councillor Sally “hat-trick” Betts channelled Lady Luck to pull the Waverley mayoralty from the hat for the third year in a row at the September 23 mayoral election.

“I’m a cricket tragic so I’m absolutely delighted I scored my first hat-trick,” Cr Betts said.

“I’m extremely pleased to be able to continue the good work that the team has achieved over the past two years and I am excited that we can keep the momentum going.”

Cr Betts won the election after going head to head with Greens councillor Dominic Wy Kanak. A six-all stalemate in open voting caused the ballot to be decided by lot.
The last two mayoral elections were decided in similar fashion as a Greens/Labor bloc of six candidates forced a stalemate with the Liberal councillors and  Independent councillor Miriam Guttman-Jones..

Cr Wy Kanak was “disappointed” by the result but resolute that it would not stop him and his fellow councillors from performing their roles on the council.

He congratulated Cr Betts, saying she was “on a roll”.

Cr Betts took the opportunity before the election to express her regret over the method of choosing the mayor by lot. She said that perhaps an uneven number of councillors – or even a popularly elected mayor chosen by the community, an option that would require a referendum and would not be in place before 2016 – would be better options.

To add salt to the wound, the position of deputy mayor once again went to the conservative side of politics after the Independent Miriam Guttman-Jones won the draw, denying Labor councillor John Wakefield the position.

Cr Wakefield was “disappointed” for Cr Wy Kanak and expressed his concern over the “rubber stamping” approach taken by the mayor when appointing councillors to committees.

Cr Wakefield also questioned the legitimacy of Cr Guttman-Jones’ “independence” from the Liberal party.

“Why is she the deputy mayor?” he said. “Surely there is a better candidate within the Liberal party.”

Cr Betts said she thought the year ahead would be “tough” and was relieved to be at the council helm.
“I understand our financial situation absolutely,” she said.

Insufficient funding for council services make that understanding necessary.

Cr Betts said the situation was so dire that she believed a rate increase would be necessary, and that some services may be cut and some jobs lost.

“It is going to be a difficult time, and being mayor I have the responsibility to do the right thing for Waverley as a whole. We still have just over a month of community consultation for our future funding options and I’m pleased that so many in our community are taking this so seriously and giving us their considered input.”

– By Liam Kinkead