Local council elections

What started as a regular council election quickly evolved into some of the most publicised and vicious slanging matches seen in local elections.

From verbal exchanges, name calling, and finger pointing to Facebook pages dedicated to overthrowing the council, it was indeed an ungentlemanly election.

Add in a little coronavirus, bad audio at ‘meet the council events’, the removal of all physical campaigning at polling booths and then a massive muck up with the vote counting and you are left with a ‘thank goodness it’s over’ feeling.

At the time of printing official results were still coming, but preliminary tallies showed:

• Mayoral candidate Glen Hartwig had a lead of 51% with 64% of the vote counted compared to 33 % for the incumbent, Mick Curran.

• In Division 1 Jess Milne had a slight edge on Mark McDonald with 39% of the vote counted with Jess on 697 votes and Mark on 653.

While it is still too early to call, incumbent Mark McDonald said: “Way too close to call but I am extremely grateful to all those who have supported me. Further, I will always be extremely proud of what I’ve achieved for the coast.”

Challenger Jess Milne said “This has been a dream of mine for over ten years and now it looks like it’s coming down to the wire. I just want the opportunity to make this Division the best it can be.”

Early congratulations to the incoming council and many thanks to those who served the past four years. 2020 will be an election to remember.