COUNCILLOR Alan Tickle has been elected as the Deputy Mayor for MidCoast Council, and will hold the position until September 2023.

Following a Mayoral election at the first MidCoast Council meeting on 12 January 2022, Councillor Alan Tickle was elected Deputy Mayor, following in the footsteps of previous Deputy Mayor, Claire Pontin who has now been elected Mayor of MidCoast.

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Cr Tickle won with seven votes by Councillor Alan Tickle, Troy Fowler, Paul Sandilands, Katheryn Smith, Claire Pontin, David West and Alan Miller, whilst his contender Cr Kathryn Bell received votes from Councillors Peter Howard, Kathryn Bell, Dheera Smith and Peter Epov.

Deputy Mayor Tickle said that he had lengthy discussions with Councillor Pontin on the need to mould a team of Councillors who maintain a strategic focus and work collaboratively.

“It was apparent that the majority support was there for Cr Pontin which was a telling factor for me in my decision not to contest the position of Mayor at this time but I am honoured that the Council voted for me in the support role of Deputy Mayor.

“The saying ‘there is no I in team’ means that all Councillors need to move forward, respect the decision on leadership, listen to the views of colleagues and not lose sight of what the community expect of us and the trust that is vested in the elected body,” Deputy Mayor Tickle said.

The newly elected Councillors and Mayors will hold their titles for a reduced term of two years and nine months due to postponement of the 2020 election due to COVID-19.

By Tara CAMPBELL