Mayor to bridge council

By Ed Merrison
THE new Knox mayor hopes to act as a bridge connecting the six newly elected councillors and the three returning representatives.
Scott Ward councillor David Cooper, the sole KRC-backed candidate elected last week to have served on the council previously, said he was humbled by the privilege of being elected mayor at a statutory meeting of council last Wednesday.
Cr Cooper, who first took his place on the council in a December 2004 by-election after Family First Senator Steve Fielding vacated his Scott Ward seat, said councillors may have viewed his election as an opportunity to bring new and old together.
As mayor in the first year of a new council, Cr Cooper said it was particularly important that a direction was set.
He said his priorities as mayor would be to address the inequities in rates and to cut down on wasteful spending.
The third item on his agenda was to continue to oppose inappropriate housing.
Cr Cooper stressed the question of rates was not merely one of economics.
He said the 2003 changes to the rates system were also a question of trust, with residents losing faith in the previous council after what they saw as an injustice.
“I hope we can quickly rebuild that faith for those who felt disenfranchised by the rates issue and also some other issues,” Cr Cooper said.
After the hard-fought and at times bitter campaigning that led to the formation of the current council, Cr Cooper said he expected the council to work as a disciplined team.
“I think having worked with incumbent councillors for the past year and having got to know incoming councillors, we all have the ability, intelligence and personality to work as individual councillors,” he said.
“I think we’ll be forthright in arguing our own points of view, but we also have the ability to work together.”
Cr Cooper said the intensity of the campaign may have had a positive impact by producing councillors with the strength and determination to do their best.
“The other thing it does is wake people up to the sense that something has to be done,” he said.
But Cr Cooper also said the office brought with it a responsibility to produce the outcomes voters expected.
“The greatest shame of all would be if councillors didn’t deliver on their promises,” he said.
“I’ll be doing my best to make sure that doesn’t happen.”