FOR Stuart King, being involved in the community is something he has done throughout his life.
So being elected as mayor of Swan Hill Council is to him just a natural extension of that commitment to his hometown.
“I love living here, I love being part of the community, and really to get involved in Swan Hill Council was just another step,” Cr King told The Guardian.
“I’ve enjoyed times here growing up, working, farming, business, and this is my avenue to give back to the community.”
Cr King, first elected to council in 2020, was nominated for mayor by fellow councillor Bill Moar at Tuesday’s mayoral vote.
He accepted and was elected unopposed, taking over the job from Les McPhee.
“It’s a real honour and a real privilege … to be elected as the leader of the council and the municipality, and to get that opportunity to represent the people that have elected me to be a councillor in the first place,” Cr King said.
“There is a huge role for us in advocacy, particularly to higher levels of government and bureaucrats, for things like funding that we need for our region, but (also) getting involved with organisations like Murray River Group of Councils to advocate for a much greater sized region,” he said.
“Stuff like that excites me, and it is an opportunity to really put our region on the map and make us known, which then helps with attracting people and investment, and overall making the Swan Hill municipality a better place to live.”
Boasting a background in agriculture and engineering, Cr King said infrastructure was a particular focus.
“Infrastructure underlies everything that we can do and achieve in our municipality,” he said.
“Roads, drains, all the stuff, might not seem so sexy, but it is really important.”
Cr King also hoped to continue to build on projects the council had already been working on.
“We just had the Housing Summit a couple of days ago,” he said.
“We know we need houses, so we’ve got to continue to come up with innovative ways that we can get them built, whether that is through government funding or through the private sector.
“From labouring jobs to office jobs to professional jobs, there’s no shortage of jobs, but there is a shortage of people.
“Innovative ways and programs to get people here (are needed) to fill those shortages, because without people, we can’t continue to grow and develop our region.”
After a debate during the council meeting, councillors also moved a motion to not elect a deputy mayor.
Cr McPhee argued that the extra cost of having a deputy mayor would be better spent within the community and that any of the councillors were capable of representing the mayor if he was away.
Cr King said there would be “positives and negatives, but we will make it work”.
“It presents some challenges not having an immediate deputy, that you’ve always got that single go-to person,” Cr King said.
“But it also creates opportunities for all the other councillors to have more involvement to represent the municipality and represent the mayor if I’m not available.”
