Porteous elected Leichhardt mayor

At an extraordinary Council meeting on May 19 Greens councillor Rochelle Porteous was elected by her peers as the new Mayor of Leichhardt.

The voting was fairly straightforward with the six Greens councillors and one Independent, John Stamolis, voting for Cr Porteous in the first round of voting before Cr Porteous was elected nine to three against Liberal councillor Gordon Weiss in the final round with the added support of Labor councillors Darcy Byrne and Lyndal Howison.

Cr Porteous took the chance to thank the outgoing Cr Parker and outline her vision for the future of Leichhardt Council which included going carbon neutral by the end of 2012 and delivering the Callan Park Masterplan.

Michele McKenzie of the Greens was elected Deputy Mayor by the Greens and Cr Stamolis, seven to five against Liberal councillor Vera-Ann Hannaford.

The meeting was a result of the newly elected Member for Balmain Jamie Parker delivering on his election promise to stand down from the position of Mayor of Leichhardt Council should he win the state seat.

“It’s quite unusual that a sitting Mayor would resign,” Cr Parker said. “But having recently been elected the Member for Balmain I intend to take that seat with much vigour and passion and look forward to representing the local community in that role.”

Cr Parker took the opportunity to outline the achievements and progress made over his three years as Mayor.

“One of the key things that most people in the community will notice is the big investment in infrastructure that this Council has undertaken,” he said.

Cr Parker rattled off a list of upgrades including the Balmain library extension, the administration building being close to completion, the new seven million dollar aquatic centre upgrades, nine new playgrounds, new sporting fields, investment in arts and cultural programs, and even the upgrades made to public toilets in the municipality.

Cr Parker will not contest the next Council election in 2012 as part of his promise to focus on his role as Member for Balmain.

Cr Stamolis said that his vote for Cr Porteous came at a price to the Greens bloc.

“This vote from your Independent councillor comes at a price,” he said. “And that is that we continue to deliver to our people… provided we continue to deliver to our community and there are results on the ground out there, my vote can be counted on.”