A new era will begin on the Gold Coast today, with the city’s newest Councillors set to take the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony at Evandale Chamber.
It comes more than two weeks on from the Local Government Election, with a marathon count in multiple hotly contested divisions holding up the process.
The Electoral Commission of Queensland finally declared the official results earlier this week, with the successful councillors given a sneak peek of their new digs during a training and information session with the Mayor on Tuesday.
There will be five fresh faces floating around Chambers, including Naomi Fowler for Division 2, Joe Wilkinson for Division 7, Dan Doran for Division 11, Nick Marshall for Division 12, and Josh Martin for Division 13.
Tom Tate says he’s looking forward to working with the new-look council.
“It’s going to be a bit of a journey for them, because it’s quite a big job,” he said.
The Mayor believes the new council will be a good mix of people for the city.
“There’s a physio, a finance person, real estate, all sorts of backgrounds… and you’ve got returning councillors who add a bit of experience,” he said.
“So there will be different view-points… we will do our discussions, debates and from there what decision we make will be on behalf of the city and what’s best for the city will always come first”.
The first general council meeting will be held in May after the first committees have been convened
