CHRISTMAS has come early for councillor Robert Taylor, who has been elected as the new mayor of Bathurst.
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Bathurst Regional Council held its mayoral election on Thursday afternoon.
Cr Taylor was placed in the city's top job with the support of all except two councillors, Ian North and Warren Aubin, while Cr Ben Fry was elected as his deputy.
The only other challenger for the position of mayor was Cr North, while Cr Graeme Hanger ran for deputy mayor.
It comes after five councillors - Taylor, North, Hanger, Jess Jennings and Marg Hogan - signalled their intention to run for the top job in the days before the election.
Councillors Taylor and Fry are both first-time councillors, but they don't think that will prevent them from delivering an excellent result for the community.
"It may be inexperience in the eyes of some in the community, but I feel that the two of us combined will weather that inexperience and virtually get on with the job," Cr Taylor said.
"Every project that I have been involved in I put my heart and soul and all my energy into. I want to see this city thrive, prosper, and I think we can achieve that."
He said he was humbled and flattered to have the support of the majority of the councillors.
There were a lot of conversations happening behind the scenes prior to the election on Thursday afternoon, and Cr Taylor believes those conversations are what made the difference.
Cr Fry is looking forward to being deputy mayor and serving alongside Cr Taylor.
He will serve for two years instead of one after a resolution of the council on Thursday.
"It's an honour and a privilege to be elected deputy mayor and I will serve Stumpy and the city well," Cr Fry said.
He said that his communications background, combined with Cr Taylor's "extreme amount of community service", will serve the council well.
The new council is set to meet again in February, 2022.
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