WHAT a difference a year makes. This time last year – a month out from the 2013 mayoral election – the Western Advocate was reporting on the behind-the-scenes lobbying going on between councillors.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And we revealed that one of the region’s newest councillors, Gary Rush, had emerged as the favourite to take the job from incumbent Monica Morse.
The news came as a surprise to many readers, not least because few outside of the most committed council observers had even heard of Cr Rush.
He was only elected to council as the number two on Warren Aubin’s ticket and had maintained a pretty low profile during his first 12 months.
As it turned out, the speculation proved spot on and Cr Rush became mayor and, since then, has impressed with his handling of the job.
It has hard to find anyone wanting to say a bad word about Cr Rush, a remarkable effort for someone who started his reign as a virtual unknown.
So much so, that less than four weeks out from this year’s mayoral election, there seems to be no jockeying going on at all.
Those who supported Cr Rush last year have no reason to change their votes, and those who didn’t support him appear resigned to the fact that the status quo is not going to change.
The main interest will be whether Cr Rush stands unopposed or not.
If that’s how it pans out, Cr Rush will become the first mayor to serve consecutive terms since Paul Toole in 2009 and 2010 and will bring a sense of stability to council – even if tensions between the factions on council remain simmering just beneath the surface.
