By AIDAN KNIGHT
LATROBE City councillors Sharon Gibson and Dale Harriman have swapped positions.
Cr Gibson will lead council after winning last Thursday’s mayoral election, while Cr Harriman will serve as her deputy.
The night’s first sign of division came when the mayoral nominations opened, with Cr Harriman (representing Loy Yang Ward) and Cr Leanne Potter (Budgeree) speaking over each other in their haste to nominate former deputy mayor Cr Gibson and first-term councillor Cr Steph Morgan (Yallourn) respectively.
Cr Gibson’s nomination was seconded by Cr Adele Pugsley (Moe); Cr Morgan’s by Cr Darren Howe (Tyers).
The vote ultimately fell five-four in favour of Cr Gibson. Councillors Pugsley, Barnes (Boolar Boola), Campbell (Jeerlang), Harriman and Gibson supporting her, while Morgan, Potter, Howe and Lund (Morwell River) backed Morgan.
The same 5-4 split would repeat for the deputy mayoral vote.
Following the vote, the new madam mayor took her seat to chair the meeting. Immediately there was a rough start to her mayoral term, after she was called to order by her Cr Morgan for skipping a key step in the deputy mayor process.
Cr Gibson attributed the confusion to a running sheet that was “not up to speed”, fumbling through sections with long pauses and even muttering into the microphone, “it’s hard to get good help these days.”
This step pertained to the speech time deputy mayoral candidates are entitled to under the Local Government Act.
This was Cr Gibson’s second procedural misstep, after she’d mistakenly asked Cr Morgan to second her own nomination for deputy, to which Cr Morgan calmly replied she would instead accept the nomination, as permitted, while allowing Cr Howe to second.
Cr Harriman was nominated by Cr Pugsley, seconded by Cr Campbell. Cr Potter nominated Cr Morgan once again, seconded by Cr Howe.
Cr Morgan surprised the room by also nominating Cr Campbell – a member of the Harriman–Gibson voting bloc, though Cr Campbell swiftly declined. “I’m not really ready for it,” she said.
Cr Harriman kept his pitch short, saying he felt he could provide good support given he was the previous mayor.
Cr Morgan’s speech was the most pointed of the night. She directly addressed what many in the community – and within council – perceive as two clear blocs. She spoke about the energy transition, the upcoming state election and the need for fresh momentum.
“Coming into this term, we had five new councillors elected, and I think that shows an appetite for fresh, new dynamic leadership,” she said.
“I think we are missing out on an opportunity to bring an energy and enthusiasm from newer councillors.”
Cr Morgan then delivered the clearest acknowledgment yet of the council’s internal divide:”
It would be a good show of unity, and a good show of what former Mayor Harriman said earlier tonight – a united group,” she said.
“I think that having two leaders from what some say in the community are ‘two distinct groups within the council’ shows that that’s not actually the case – that we’re grown-ups, that we respect this role and the positions of leadership to work very hard to create a positive, thriving Latrobe City.”
She said a blended leadership team would benefit “not just the old guard, not just the new guard – everybody.”
Despite her appeal, the numbers remained unchanged.
Cr Harriman won the deputy mayoralty 5-4, with light-hearted laughter filling the chamber when Cr Howe jokingly attempted to raise both hands to give Cr Morgan an extra vote. She may have swung, but the bloc held.
Cr Gibson’s acceptance speech at the end of the meeting was brief, “because it was a surprise,” she said.
“I feel really uncomfortable sitting here saying I’m crash hot,” she spoke plainly.
“What I will say is that I hope for the new ones,” she said looking at Cr Morgan’s side of the table, “they can see that I’m very much about trying to help people and to work together, (…) and I will continue to do that.”
She turned to follow Cr Harriman’s lead in sports references, as she told her councillors she hoped they could “get some runs on the board”, twice in the one speech.
Cr Harriman then took the floor, in an even shorter address, to simply express “I’m just hoping that we have the continuation of what we’ve had the last eight months.”
With leadership undertaking what is probably the most subtle change it possibly could, this statement will likely ring true.
Crs Gibson and Harriman will serve a maximum of one year as mayor and deputy.
The outgoing mayor and long-time councillor used the meeting to reflect on his own election to Jeeralang Ward last year as being one of the “most brutal” in Latrobe history, as well as celebrating council’s transformation over the past 12 months.
“The way this group has grown, the respect that’s developed, the way council has operated … has been absolutely fantastic,” he said.
A special acknowledgement was given to the Cr Gibson, recognised for both leadership and steadfast support during a demanding term.
“She’s been good with advice, not always what I’d agree with, but it has been good advice. It’s been fearless and frank, and I really do appreciate that,” he said.
Cr Harriman expressed pride in what he saw as a renewed sense of public trust, saying he believed the community now had “a council that will listen if they say something.”
Cr Harriman also made use of his last few moments as mayor to throw in one final football reference, light-heartedly farewelling his term with “I’d like to say it’s good to have Merrett back at Essendon”, drawing chuckles from the room.
Latrobe City Chief Executive Steve Piasante chaired proceedings, with all councillors present except Cr Lund, who attended virtually.
As he closed off his farewell speech, Cr Harriman did however tell a lie, informing his wife that he would “be back on the whipper snipper and ironing duties as of tomorrow,” referencing a lighter workload as he returns to being a regular councillor – a prediction immediately undone when he was later elected deputy mayor.
