Race is on for top role in Mid West-Gascoyne shires as council elections near, presidents retire

A leadership shake-up looms for councils across the Mid West and Gascoyne, with shire presidents either retiring or up for re-election, as local government polling nears an end. In Carnarvon, Shire president Eddie Smith is campaigning to secure his second term, running against Paul Kelly in a race to secure the top job. After being elected to council in 2005, Cr Smith became president in 2019 and has been an integral part of Carnarvon’s most formative years. “I think as a council we’re doing very well, I’d just like to get in and tidy a few things up,” Cr Smith said Mr Kelly is a semi-retired company director, and understands the significance of Carnarvon’s melting-pot population and has well established relationships with the Vietnamese community in Carnarvon. “It’s all going well – what will be, will be,” Mr Kelly said. Mount Magnet Shire president Jorgen Jensen retired from his leadership position for economic reasons and focus on running his station and making a profit, according to deputy president Ian Black. Cr Black said finding a new leader would be “tricky” as there wasn’t enough nominations to fill council vacancies. Either he or former deputy president Cr James McGorman will more than likely fill the position, but Cr Black said he was undecided about the role and had to wrap his head around the work involved. “The boots will take a hell of a lot of filling,” he said. Irwin Shire president Michael Smith’s term expires this month, with the new leader to be determined by a council vote at the next election. Dandaragan Shire president Leslee Holmes also feels that now is her time to give up the role, as well as deputy president Peter Scharf, who is retiring from his position. It will be a council vote for both positions. With the council race still under way, neither leaders would comment on who was interested, but Cr Holmes noted it had “been very quiet”. “The way things are at the moment, the work that’s involved, some people are happy to be councillors but whether they want the top job,” she said. Perenjori Shire president Chris King will step down from his position, welcoming Jude Sutherland to the chambers as their new leader. Cr King will stand down after 19 years in local government, stating he’s done enough and is ready for “post-COVID travel”. He said Cr Campbell was very well known and popular in the community, recently winning Community Person of the Year. Coorow Shire president of 16 years Moira Girando is retiring from her position to spend more time with family, but deputy president Bruce Jack said he wasn’t interested in the role. “I’m deputy president now and I struggle to find the time to do the role justice as Moira is doing,” he said. Cr Girando said she was aware of one candidate “really keen” on the position, but wouldn’t name them. “After 22 years on council, I think its time for the younger generations to take a little bit of control of the future of their community,” she said. The Shire of Murchison and Shire of Mingenew presidents Rossco Foulkes-Taylor and Gary Cosgrove were both re-elected unopposed. Mt Magnet Shire deputy president Mark Smith confirmed Harvey Nichols would most likely be voted in again and there were no other aspirants at this stage. In Exmouth, residents will publicly vote for their shire president, a decision between incumbent Darlene Allston and sitting councillor Matt Niikkula. In Carnarvon’s four wards, the voter turnout of returned ballots so far ranges from 23 per cent to 41 per cent. With just over a week to go, other returned vote rates to date are 36 per cent in Coorow, 38 per cent in Exmouth, 30.5 per cent in Dandaragan and 24 per cent in Chapman Valley.