At 11am this morning the button was pressed to calculate the votes and preferences of Tweed Shire voters and determine who the lucky seven councillors would be who were elected to represent them for the next two years.
First position unsurprisingly went to Liberal candidate and former councillor James Owen who had brought in over 25 per cent of the primary vote.
The second candidate elected was former Independent Mayor Chris Cherry followed by Independent Merideth Dennis.
Update: The candidates elected after the election of Ms Dennis were all elected at the same time and are then listed in order they were listed on the ballot paper.
The second candidate on James Owen’s ticket, and his partner, Rhiannon Brinsmead, one of those along with former Conservative councillor Warren Polglase. Greens lead candidate Dr Nola Firth, and former Labor councillor Reece Byrnes.
‘It was a surprise result,’ said Mr Owen.
‘Rhiannon is honoured to be elected and is looking forward to representing the community,’ he said.
‘The majority of councillors are from major parties.’
This leaves Ms Cherry and Ms Dennis as the two Independent councillors.
‘I’m absolutely thrilled to be representing the Tweed Shire community,’ Ms Dennis told The Echo.
‘There have been four women elected to Tweed Council which really demonstrates the change of demographic in the region. The electoral commission ran a program encouraging more women to stand.
‘I decided to run when I was listening to the radio and they were talking about decisions the Tweed Council were making that I didn’t agree with. There is no point complaining about things if you are not prepared to get up and do something about it.
‘We got our campaign t-shirts and hats from the op-shop and a creative nurse I know hand-painted one a night and we put laminated cards on our hats. We ran a really grass roots campaign.’
Who gets Mayor?
Mr Owen has said that he will put his hand up for Mayor. The Tweed Shire mayor is elected by the councillors for a two year term and the Deputy Mayor is nominated for a one year term.
‘With over 25 per cent of the vote you might think there is a mandate from those who voted for me,’ Mr Owen told The Echo.
‘I want to work with all councillors rather than the block voting from the previous council. We need a proper debate not predetermined decisions along political lines.’
First council meeting
The new councillors now have an intense induction process to go through and will have their first meeting in the new year at Tweed Heads.
‘The new councillors will meet on January 11 to be sworn in and for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor to be elected,’ Tweed Shire Council media spokesperson told The Echo.
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