Cr Steve McCormick
Cr Charmeine Duri
Cr Danielle Wrench
By Michael Sinclair-Jones
THREE newcomers have been elected unopposed to the Toodyay Shire Council.
They are Charmeine Duri, Steve McCormick and Danielle Wrench.
Cr Mick McKeown – whose 15-month term was due to expire this month – was re-elected unopposed to fill a fourth remaining vacancy on the nine-member council.
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The result represents a clean sweep to replace a former Toodyay council publicly discredited by 23 adverse findings against it and a former CEO when the results of a year-long State Government inquiry were tabled in the WA State Parliament last year.
This year’s four candidates were the only nominees for four council vacancies, which means there will be no postal ballot of Toodyay electors this month.
It will be the first time in shire history that all elected members will represent all Toodyay voters after minority ward representation was abolished two years ago.
The council’s two remaining veteran councillors elected under the former ward system – Crs Brian Rayner (shire president 2017-19) and Therese Chitty (deputy president 2015-19) – did not stand for re-election when their terms expire this month.
A third veteran of the abolished ward system, former Cr Paula Greenway, resigned last March.
Cr McKeown was first elected in a postal ballot of all Toodyay voters in July last year after former Cr Bill Manning (shire president 2019-2020) resigned to move to Tasmania.
Cr McKeown and the three new councillors are due to start their four-year terms on Saturday October 16.
A special council meeting has been called for 1pm on Monday October 18 to swear in the four elected members, who will then join the other five sitting members to elect a president for the next two years.
Cr Rosemary Madacsi currently holds that position and is expected to renominate.
