The votes have been counted and Gary Brennan has been re-elected as the City of Bunbury Mayor.
First elected to the role of Mayor in 2013, Mr Brennan was returned to power for the next four years on Saturday night with 2305 votes.
A record return saw 7878 of votes split between the seven Mayoral candidates as follows;
- Gary Brennan, 2305 votes
- Brendan Kelly, 1495 votes
- Betty McCleary, 1480 votes
- Michelle Steck, 1110 votes
- Ross Slater, 903 votes
- Jason Shaw, 406 votes
- Zyggi Uchwal, 179 votes
Mr Brennan, the incumbent Mayor and a former City of Bunbury chief executive officer, increased his margin from four years ago, finishing 810 votes ahead of current Deputy Mayor Brendan Kelly.
Current councillor Betty McCleary finished third in the count, just 15 votes behind Mr Kelly.
Pre-election, Mr Brennan said he was keen to continue in the role to ensure a raft of current projects were completed.
“Our city is thriving, we have a range of exciting projects about to begin and others underway that I want to continue to guide,” he said in May.
“Things are moving in Bunbury, we are amid a revitalisation and that’s what I am most proud of.
“In almost four years as Mayor I’ve been lucky to liaise with a lot of vibrant members of our community to hear ideas and help to shape those concepts into something tangible.”
Read more: Gary Brennan keen to continue key projects
In choosing to re-contest the role for a further four years, Mr Brennan told the Mail he was proud that the City was financially sound and had a clear direction.
“There’s a lot of pride in this city again, a lot of pride in our workforce and I feel very proud of the work we have done over the past four years,” he said.
Among the projects the Mayor wishes to continue are the Transforming Bunbury’s Waterfront project, the Withers transformation project, and the City of Bunbury Local Planning Scheme 8.
A record field of 22 candidates contested the six councillor seats up for grabs.
Current councillor James Hayward was overwhelmingly returned with 3,514 votes, more than 500 votes ahead of his nearest rival.
Michelle Steck, Karen Steele and Jaysen de San Miguel were also re-elected for four more years.
There were also two new councillors selected after Judy Jones retired and Wendy Giles was unsuccessful in her bid for re-election.
State valuer Todd Brown received the second highest amount of votes. In his candidate profile before the election he said he owed a great deal for the opportunities Bunbury has given him and this was his way of giving back.
Joining him will be Tresslyn Smith. After nearly three decades working for Consumer Protection, Mrs Smith spent eight years as Bunbury Mayoress while her husband David was Mayor.
Taking the final seat with a 63 vote margin, Mrs Smith has previously said she wishes to promote council engagement with business and the community.
FULL COUNCIL VOTES