By JESSE GRAHAM
THE YARRA Ranges has a new councillor for the Lyster Ward, with candidate Mike Clarke declared winner of the by-election yesterday.
An Independent candidate, Mr Clarke was declared winner on Monday 30 March, after receiving almost 2000 votes in preferences to push him into first place.
Greens-endorsed candidate, Kate Gutske, was ahead in the voting for much of the count, with Mr Clarke trailing about 200 votes behind as the early results were released.
Mr Clarke, a Selby resident, trailed Ms Gutske by just 11 votes, with 2797 against 2808, until the last-minute preferences came down.
After receiving 735 votes from Bill Brindle, Mr Clarke had a lead of 600 votes, which he then extended further when he received 1100 votes in preferences from Lawrence Mobsby.
The final vote count left Mr Clarke in the lead with 4632 votes to Ms Gutske’s 3117.
Mr Clarke told the Mail that he was delighted to get a win, having previously run for the Streeton Ward in 2012 and the Victorian State Election in November.
“To finally do it is exciting, and I’m really honoured to get all of that support from the voters,” he said.
“I’m really impressed that they all got behind me, and I look forward to supporting and representing them.”
He said that he enjoyed the six-week campaign for the ward, with a hallmark moment being a candidates’ forum, where he said candidates were given a chance to publicly state their case.
“The people who turned up had really good questions and you could see the array of answers,” he said.
During his campaign, Mr Clarke told the Mail that the big issue in the ward – which covers Sherbrooke, Kallista, The Patch, Belgrave, Selby, Menzies Creek, Lysterfield and Belgrave Heights – was public transport.
He proposed a 10-seater bus replacement to the current 40-seater Ventura buses, with more frequent trips to towns through the Dandenongs.
Fast forward to after the election and Mr Clarke said people in the hills agreed that public transport was an important issue and that he would take that issue, along with housing affordability, to the council when he began his duties as councillor.
Mr Clarke will officially be sworn in at a special Yarra Ranges Council meeting on 7 April, and will sit as Lyster Ward councillor until the general council election in October 2016.
