Cr Ruth Gstrein elected Mayor after Councillors sworn in

Published on 10 November 2020

Central Ward Councillor Ruth Gstrein was today elected to serve as Corangamite Shire’s new Mayor for the next 12 months.

South Central Ward Councillor Jo Beard was elected Deputy Mayor. The two most experienced members of the new Council, they have each served three terms as Mayor.

This afternoon they sat for their first meeting with newly elected colleagues Nick Cole (North Ward), Geraldine Conheady, Laurie Hickey (Central), Kate Makin (South West) and Jamie Vogels (Coastal).

They took the oath of office, set the Mayoral term at one year, and elected the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

Cr Gstrein thanked her fellow Councillors for having confidence in her ability to lead for the next 12 months.

“It will be an important 12 months in regard to the new Local Government Act and the amount of work that will go into that—setting the scene with the 10-year Council Vision, four-year Council Plan and this Council’s first Budget.

“The new Local Government Act is being implemented in stages and a lot of that has to happen in the first year. Working together as a strong team will be important.”

Cr Gstrein said she welcomed the diversity around the table in terms of life experience.

“We had our first inductions sessions this week and all of the issues that Councillors raised were very similar. I think that’s really healthy and this council will work very well together. I look forward to leading them for the next 12 months.”

Cr Gstrein lives in Camperdown with her husband Peter and has two adult children, Lucy and Christopher. She was first elected to Council in 2002 and has served as Mayor in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and Deputy Mayor in 2019 and 2020.

Cr Gstrein is Office Manager at Bostocks Creek Design and Drafting, runs her own small catering business and sits on the boards of the Municipal Association of Victoria and the Australian Local Government Association.

The next scheduled Meeting of Council will be on Tuesday 24 November and will be live streamed on Council’s website and Facebook page.