General News
15 April, 2020
New Deputy Mayor for Mareeba
Kevin Davies is the new deputy mayor of the Mareeba Shire Council (MSC)
Kevin Davies is the new deputy mayor of the Mareeba Shire Council (MSC)
In yesterday morning's post-election meeting for the new MSC, Kevin Davies was voted in as Deputy Mayor under Angela Toppin.
Councillor Davies said he is looking forward to working with the new council and with Mayor Toppin
“I think I will compliment Angela's leadership with my experience, I have worked in the shire for over 20 years with experience in roads, sewerage, waste, and across the board.” He said
Councillor Davies said the new Council was well balanced. “We have a good mix of Councillors,” he said.
“We have three experienced Councillors, and three new Councillors, who together with the Mayor, will lead the community through these uncertain times.”
Mr Davies admitted that council will now look at ways to minimise the fallout from the current COVID-19 fallout at the very first ordered council meeting which is scheduled for Wednesday, April 22.
“We are going to have a serious look at it at the next council meeting, we are not sure what we can do about it. We still have to function as a council, so we still have to have money coming in otherwise our services go out the door," he said
“We are seriously looking at what we can do to help residents.”
Mayor Angela Toppin welcomed Cr Davies to the position. “Congratulations to Councillor Davies and I look forward to working with him,” she said.
“Councillor Davies is very passionate about the Shire and brings valuable experience to the table.”
Other decisions made at yesterdays meeting included:
Appointing Mayor Toppin as the chair of the local disaster management committee.
Councillors also voted to freeze pay increases for councillors and council staff.
Mayor Angela Toppin said “The Councillors and I felt it would be inappropriate to receive a pay increase when so many people have lost their jobs and businesses are struggling,” Cr Toppin said.
“We believe this decision is the most sensible and ethical thing to do at this time.”
Council also agreed that any staff wage or salary increase that is at the discretion of Council will be deferred until further notice.
The new Council also agreed to meet on the third Wednesday of every month, with the next meeting on Wednesday, April 22 at 9 am.
