IT would be nice to think that the election of a new mayor on Wednesday night would bring some real cohesion to the final few months of the current council, but that’s unlikely to be the case.
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As councillors hit the phones on Monday morning it quickly became apparent that Graeme Hanger was the early favourite to take over the reins from Gary Rush following his sudden resignation.
But as the day rolled on the picture became less clear rather than more clear as more names were thrown in the hat.
By late afternoon Cr Hanger and former deputy mayor Ian North had confirmed they would contest the mayoral ballot while former mayor Monica Morse was still considering her position.
Councillors North and Morse are both very experienced within the chamber and have strong local profiles but it would the truth is it would take a miracle for either of them to muster the four votes needed to win Wednesday’s ballot.
Cr North appears to have fallen out with Cr Bobby Bourke – the man who used to be his greatest ally – to the point where the pair are barely on speaking terms.
Instead, Cr Bourke is supporting Cr Hanger and Cr Michael Coote has been drawn into the deal with the promise of the deputy’s job.
Cr Coote was a strong supporter of Cr Rush and pushed hard to get him in the top job back in 2013. He might have higher ambitions in the years to come but does not have the time needed to run for mayor at this stage.
In turn, Cr Coote has always been closely aligned to Greg Westman and Warren Aubin within the chamber and either of their votes would be enough to see the Hanger-Coote team elected.
Such a result would again leave councillors North and Morse alienated and frustrated, and set the tone for the last few months of the council term.
Of course, all that could change with just a phone call or two between now and 5.50pm on Wednesday.
When Cr Morse was elected mayor in 2012 the deal was done just a few hours before the votes were cast. Until then, Greg Westman appeared certain to be returned for his second term in the job.
What that deal showed was that nothing is certain until the final votes are counted and a few hours can be a long time in politics.
And if that’s the case, then Wednesday’s vote is still an eternity away.
