Carmelo Pesce has been re-elected mayor of Sutherland Shire Council through a deal with independent Steve Simpson.
Cr Simpson voted with the seven Liberal councillors for Cr Pesce and, in return, they voted for him as deputy mayor.
With the council split evenly with seven Liberal and seven Labor councillors, the decision was always going to be in Cr Simpson’s hands.
Peter Scaysbrook was the Labor candidate for both roles, but was defeated by a vote of 8-7 on each occasion.
Cr Pesce will serve another two years up to the next council election.
Cr Simpson was once a member of the Liberal team but was dumped as a candidate for the last election and stood as an independent.
He said after the meeting he was offered the position of deputy mayor by both sides in return for supporting their candidate for mayor.
He did not deny seeking support to run as mayor himself.
“Those discussions are confidential,” he said.
Cr Simpson said he decided to support Cr Pesce because he thought there was “greater movement, more effort to do things for the shire that needed to be done ” from the Liberal team than from Labor.
“I didn’t see the same cohesion on the other side,”he said.
“I will do exactly what I have done during my 21 years on council in representing the people who elected me and working with councillors across the board.’
Cr Pesce said he asked Cr Simpson to run as deputy mayor because “I wanted someone who had experience”.
“Steve has been here for more than 20 years and I think he can help me with the things that I want to get done for the benefit of residents,” he said.
Cr Pesce said it was an honour to represent the community as mayor, and he was “committed to continuing an open and transparent office for my third consecutive term as mayor”.
“I commit to working tirelessly for all residents and members of the Sutherland Shire community,” he said.
“For me it’s back to business and I want to make sure the next two years we achieve even more than we have over the last three years.”
