MONICA Morse hopes her election to deputy mayor will encourage women who are considering running for Bathurst Regional Council.
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For years, Cr Morse was the only female councillor in Bathurst, Blayney and Orange combined.
It spurred her on to find and encourage more women to get involved in local government, particularly as many believe that there's only room for men in the Bathurst council chamber.
But that's certainly not the case, and she hopes women see Wednesday's election result as proof of that.
"I'm very pleased to be deputy mayor. I think it's a great example to women who are interested in standing for council, that women have a very significant role to play in council," Cr Morse said.
"I hope that encourages women who have been a bit despondent lately."
Cr Morse was first elected to council in 2008, served as mayor for one year from 2012 to 2013, and will retire in September.
Landing the job as deputy mayor is a great way to finish up her time on council and also adds to the Morse family legacy.
Her father-in-law, Alan Morse, served as mayor and deputy mayor at various points, as did his father-in-law, P.J. Moodie, and now Cr Morse can say she's done the same.
She hopes to make progress on a few key projects in her final weeks on council.
This includes finding a way to revive the former TAFE building in William Street, progressing plans for another river crossing, and ensuring upgrades to Centennial Park are on track.
"I have heard from the director of engineering that the consultants are working on the detailed plans for the paths and the tree planting and the lighting, and if that is well underway by the time I retire from council, then I shall be very happy," Cr Morse said.
She looks forward to working alongside mayor Ian North again, and has faith in his leadership, which is hoped to move council forward after the recent division.
"The obvious thing is for someone who has been deputy mayor for so long to step up into the mayor's role. It's a very different world being in the mayor's role, I can assure you," she said.
"He is in the best place to fit in that role and he's experienced in council and council's procedures.
"I'd also like to make it very clear that we are very lucky to have the general manager we have, because he's very experienced and can provide good advice on how things should proceed. We're very lucky to have David Sherley."
Cr Morse also invites any women considering standing for council to call her and offered up some advice.
"I think they've got to stand, but the main thing I think about council is to work together as a team. We have to be a team," she said.
"We can disagree like mad in the chamber, that's important and we certainly did disagree about the go-kart track. If you can resolve the issues, that's terrific, but even if you can't agree in the chamber, you've got to leave it all in the chamber after the debate and go and have a drink together, a cup of tea or a soft drink, after a meeting."
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