By Lauren Henry

New Horsham Rural City Council Mayor Ian Ross has vowed to lead an ‘effective and functional council’ with genuine community consultation to restore the community’s trust.

Cr Ross was officially elected mayor at a statutory meeting on Thursday last week, where all councillors were sworn into their roles.

Cr Ross, representing Pine Lake Ward, was the only incumbent councillor re-elected.

The Telangatuk East farm manager has had long-held associations with community groups including sporting clubs, Apex, the Victorian Farmers Federation, CFA, Kanagulk Landcare and local churches. 

He was also a director of the Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority for 13 years.

“I’m very confident we’re all here for the right reason,” Cr Ross told the meeting.

“I believe we’ll be a very effective and functional council, and will be 100 per cent focused on delivering the best we can for this municipality.”

But Cr Ross admitted the council had a ‘big job to do’, following a year of controversies for the council, with the previous council plagued by in-fighting, a delayed approval of the Budget, the appointment of a municipal monitor and the resignation of former chief executive Sunil Bhalla.

“We have some work to do to turn the ship around a little bit with our satisfaction surveys, and we need to restore the community’s trust – that’s so important,” Cr Ross said.

“And that’s done by truly listening to people, and truly involving people in the planning and decision-making.”

Cr Ross said the Wimmera was a great community to be a part of. 

“We have a wonderful opportunity to maintain what is good in our part of the world, while also striving towards making improvements in areas where it’s needed,” he said.

“I look forward to continuing to work with our community, our interim CEO Craig Neiman, staff, and our partners of state and federal government, ensuring that we have a strong, future-friendly municipality.”

Councillors voted not to elect a deputy mayor, and all congratulated Cr Ross.

Cr Angela Munn said she was confident Cr Ross’ appointment to mayor would be well received by the wider community.

“Councillor Ross has already walked the path on which we’ve just stepped and he’s done so with honesty, integrity, diligence and wisdom,” she said.  

“I’m sure that Councillor Ross will lead and guide us and our whole municipality extremely well in the coming year using those very same qualities and their attributes.”

Cr Cam McDonald congratulated both Cr Ross and his wife Kathy on the appointment.

“In my opinion, you are the model statesman, you know, thorough gentleman,” he said.  

“We’ve all watched you in the last four years conduct yourself in a very professional manner, and you’ve demonstrated your strength and have a lot of candour in your deliberations – and for that I applaud you.”

The entire November 27, 2024 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!

The entire November,27, 2024 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!