Former councillor Christine Stow among candidates to fill Ricky Kirkham’s role
The shock resignation of Whittlesea Councillor Ricky Kirkham caught his peers by surprise. Now, there will be a countback to decide who fills the vacancy with four expected to vie for the seat, including a former councillor.
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A former Whittlesea councillor who led a campaign for ex-mayor Kris Pavlidis to resign after she was caught parking in a disabled spot is in the running to return to the council.
Christine Stow, who most recently ran as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Maribyrnong, said “an expression of interest” had been made to fill the role.
Mernda resident William Sharp has also expressed his interest in filling a councillor role.
It comes after Ricky Kirkham last night stepped down from the scandal-plagued council, saying he had lost faith in the local authority’s ability to serve the community.
The Victorian Electoral Commission will now go through the process of a countback.
The Leader understands Ms Stow, Mr Sharp, Sasha Nackovski and Kurt Cauchi are all in the running to fill Mr Kirkham’s role.
Under the countback, a surplus of first preference votes would be loaded into a VEC computer system and then simulated to determine a result.
Ms Stow who was involved in a countback in 2014, did not deny another stint as a councillor.
“Let’s just say that my expression of interest has been put forward,” she said.
“We’ll see how it plays out, but I’ll be taking it one step at a time.”
The Epping mother-of-two won a North Ward countback after the death of Cr Nicola Davis, who died in April, 2014 after a short battle with cancer.
She went on to be a councillor until 2016.
Ms Stow said she would attempt to be a “calming influence” if sworn back into the tumultuous council, which is under the eye of a State Government monitor.
“I had a calming influence between the factions last time and that won’t change,” she said.
“I’ll always listen to everyone around the table and decide what’s best for the community from there.”
Ms Stow said she would not have an issue working alongside Cr Pavlidis despite previously calling for her resignation.
Mr Sharp said he would leap at the opportunity to fill Mr Kirkham’s role.
“I’ve been dealing with councillors as a community advocate for over 10 years so I’m well aware of how they operate,” he said.
“The council isn’t functioning how it should be, but it’s not an unworkable situation.”
Leader could not contact previous 2016 council election candidates Kurt Cauchi and Sasha Nackovski.
Mr Kirkham’s resignation was effective immediately following Tuesday night’s special council meeting.
Whittlesea Council is still yet to release a public statement.
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On his Facebook page, Mr Kirkham said circumstances at the council made it “impossible to discharge (his) obligations to hold council accountable”.
The former mayor went on to say he had repeatedly raised concerns about the council’s failure to manage major contracts, particularly with parks and gardens.
He thanked the community and said it had been an “immense honour” to serve the city of Whittlesea for the past seven years.
Mr Kirkham joined former community services director Russell Hopkins in council employees who have resigned in the past month.