Alice Springs Town Council appoints new mayor, deputy mayor after dual resignations
ALICE Springs Town Council has appointed a new mayor and deputy mayor after the dual resignations of Damien Ryan and Matt Paterson to contest the NT election
Alice Springs
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ALICE Springs Town councillor Jamie De Brenni has been appointed as the town’s new mayor (principal member) after the resignation of Damien Ryan to contest the Territory election on August 22.
In a confusing debate during a special council meeting on Thursday night between five councillors, which took an hour, it was also resolved to appoint Cr Jimmy Cocking to deputy mayor (deputy principal member) until at least September 28, while Matt Paterson also contests the election.
It was unclear at the beginning of the meeting for some councillors if they were nominating and voting to fill both principal and deputy member roles.
Both elected members will remain in the two roles unless and until both Mr Ryan and Mr Preston successfully applies to the chief executive to be reinstated to the council (only if they are not elected to NT Legislative Assembly).
In this case Jamie De Brenni will remain appointed as principal member for the remainder of this council term.
Council also resolved to defer the committee elections and extend the current committee appointments to the September 28 ordinary meeting.
During the debate to appoint a deputy mayor CEO Robert Jennings said it was “crucial that we have our leadership structure clear, as opposed to a little bit ambiguous as to which chair is available to take up the role”.
He said the decision “can be easily brought back at the time that we’re reviewing committees”.
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If the mayor and deputy wish to be reinstated, they may apply to the CEO to be reinstated as a member within 7 days after the election result is known.
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