‘Wait for it’: Ex-Mayor delays response as counting continues

“IT’S all good,” outgoing Gympie mayor Mick Curran said this morning as he contemplated a future without Gympie Regional Council.

WAIT FOR IT: Outgoing Gympie region mayor Mick Curran has refrained from conceding defeat after the weekend council elecitons, but says he will be making a statement when the poll is declared.

“IT’S all good,” outgoing Gympie region mayor Mick Curran said as he contemplated his departure from Gympie Regional Council.

“Life goes on,” he said.

It was not a formal concession of defeat, but it was a clear acknowledgement.

Asked his response to the vote, Mr Curran said the time for him to comment would be after the poll is declared.

“I’m still in the role until then,” he said.

Mr Curran was voted in as a councillor in 2012, won the mayoral by-election in 2015 and that win was confirmed at the 2015 council poll.

“Everything we aimed to achieve, we achieved,” he said, addding that he did not intend to be a sideline critic of the new council’s conduct.

“The race is run,” he said.

Of fresh faces likely to be on the upcoming council, Dolly Jensen was the first to claim victory yesterday, in Division 2.

With 1719 votes, she has a lead of more than 600 votes over rival Leonora Cox.

Mrs Jensen, would represent an area from Wallu and Victory to the region’s northern boundary, where she lives at Theebine.

She wants out-of-town council meetings throughout the region, including Theebine, where she lives.

She promised one major building project - “rebuilding the community’s faith and trust.”

And she said she had reprinted her campaign pamphlet in a form she could take with her every day, to remind her of the promises she made.

“Roads, rates, rubbish, representation, responsibility, recovery,” she said.

In Division 4, Bruce Devereaux would not claim victory, despite a commanding vote of 1153 so far, well ahead of nearest rival and ex-councillor Rae Gate on 820, with incumbent Daryl Dodt on 486.

“It’s better than being behind,” he said.

Like Warren Polley in Division 7, he welcomed the fresh faces likely to be on the new council.

Mr Polley has opened a slight lead over outgoing Deputy Mayor Bob Leitch, with 1102 vote.

“I’m chewing my fingernails,” he said.

An attempt was made to contact Mr Leitch.

Originally published as ‘Wait for it’: Ex-Mayor delays response as counting continues