By Gabriella Payne
The Cardinia Shire Council has new leaders at the helm, after the Mayor and Deputy Mayor for 2022 were elected at Monday night’s annual statutory meeting.
Ranges Ward Councillor Jeff Springfield was voted in as the shire’s new Mayor on 8 November, narrowly beating out Henty Ward Councillor Carol Ryan for the position with a 5-4 vote.
This will be the second time that Cr Springfield has stepped into the top role, having served as Mayor for the year 2020 and Deputy Mayor for 2021.
He said he was excited about the appointment and was looking forward to the year ahead.
“I am thrilled to be leading this council as Mayor over the next 12 months,” Cr Springfield said.
“The year ahead will be an important year for our residents as we recover from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have seen so much social and economic disruptions recently and we must assist our community where we can as their elected community leaders.”
Cr Springfield expressed his gratitude to his fellow councillors for their votes of confidence, and said he was looking forward to working as a “united team“ in the year to come.
Officer Ward councillor Tammy Radford will also be stepping into a leadership position, after successfully being voted in as the new Deputy Mayor for 2022, again beating out Cr Ryan with a close 5-4 vote.
Cr Radford said she saw the role of Deputy Mayor as being an extremely strong support and sounding board for the Mayor, and she was grateful and excited to take on this new challenge.
“I look forward to taking on this role and have the full support of my family to take on this exciting position,“ Cr Radford said at the meeting.
“As Deputy Mayor I will continue to provide one hundred per cent commitment to supporting our community recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.”
