Sense of excitement as new council sworn in
Published Tuesday 12 April 2016
A SENSE of excitement and anticipation filled the air as the newly elected Douglas Shire Council was sworn in this morning.
A packed house at the council chambers in Mossman witnessed re-elected Mayor Julia Leu and her four councillors take their oath of office in a special ceremony.
The mood amongst the new team was one of genuine optimism with returning members Leu, David Carey, Abigail Noli and the newly-appointed Michael Kerr and Roy Zammatarro all agreeing a four-year term would provide a platform for success.
“I’m really delighted with the calibre of the councillors the community has chosen to represent them,” Leu said.
“It’s a really fabulous mix of maturity, intelligence and diversity and everyone is keen to work for the betterment of the community.
“I’m very much looking forward to working with them, the CEO, our staff and the community and I believe we have an amazing opportunity to achieve our potential.”
The last council had just two-years to work together following de-amalgamation from Cairns Regional Council, which presented its own challenges.
“In the first two years we really had to establish the council,” Leu said.
“We had to look at the financial sustainability and get the finances on track, and we did set the foundations for the future. Now in this second term we’ll really be able to achieve out potential.”
New councillor Michael Kerr said he was eager to roll up his sleeves and get to work after a nerve-racking election campaign.
“I think there is a really good energy between the council and we’re going to get along well,” he said.
“We all know everyone thinks differently so it’s about discussing things properly and, at the end of the day, shaking hands and moving on to what’s next.”
Zammataro agreed it was a healthy mix of ideas that would be instrumental to the future prosperity of the Douglas Shire.
“We’ll all have our own ideas and everyone has got a vision, so we’ll work together to get things done,” Zammataro said.
Carey said he was humbled to be elected again and believed the new team could move forward with confidence after overcoming the ‘unknown’ of forming the Douglas Shire two years ago.
“Through the de-amalgamation process we said that it would work, financially in particular, but you never really know until you actually come to do it,” Carey said.
“Now we’ve got the place settled and have the administration in place, the budget is fine, we’ve got an opportunity now to start doing stuff.”
Noli, who was unanimously voted in as deputy mayor for a second straight term, said she was excited by what the council could achieve.
“The next four years we can really concentrate on what I believe is the good fun stuff, where we start making a difference, and that the public can actually see,” Noli said.
“We’ve got four years to start to implement things and I’m looking forward to working with everyone, I think we can all offer something slightly different which is really important.”
The first official council meeting will take place on Tuesday 19 April.
