Wood to continue as city leader, with new deputy

LIAM Wood will serve a third consecutive term as Mildura mayor, after he held off a forecast challenge from deputy mayor Helen Healy at Thursday’s annual mayoral election.

Cr Wood, 44, retained the mayoral post in a 6-2 vote after Cr Jodi Reynolds was unable to make her preference public due to “technical difficulties”.

Long-serving councillor and former mayor Mark Eckel was chosen as Cr Wood’s deputy, despite Cr Healy again nominating for the position she has held for the past 12 months.

Cr Healy made no secret of her desire for a female to fill the mayoral role for the next 12 months, citing a 20-year absence of a woman elected to the title since Ann Cox died while in office on Christmas Day 2002.

The mayoral vote was told Cr Reynolds had intended to cast her vote remotely, however was unable to do so due to a computer glitch.

An emotional Cr Wood, who was first elected Mildura mayor in November 2021 after just 12 months in office, said he loved “every minute of this job”.

“To be able to represent a community as good as ours doesn’t get much better,” he said in his acceptance speech.

“It’s a huge honour and a privilege to be in this role.”

The mayor-elect said he was “truly excited” about the year ahead.

”We’re starting to believe our little place in the world is an amazing place to live,” he said.

“To the broader community, you are the reason I turn up to work every day fired up to make real, lasting, positive change.

“You are the force that keeps me relentlessly advocating for better outcomes for our region.

“I know some of you might feel invisible at times but, be assured, we see you.”

Cr Wood paid tribute to council staff, fellow councillors and his immediate family for the support he had received since being elected as councillor and mayor.

In his first foray at local government representation in 2016, Cr Wood received the eighth-highest first preferences among 28 candidates, but failed to gain a seat in council chambers following the distribution of preferences.

Cr Healy also missed out on election the same year, but gained a local government post in February 2019 following the election of then councillor Ali Cupper to State Parliament.

In 2020, Cr Wood attracted the third-highest number of primary votes behind councillors Glenn Milne and Ian Arney and was duly elected for his first term in office.

He won a tight challenge to become the next mayor of Mildura 12 months later, ousting Jason Modica, who had held the position over the previous year.

Cr Wood was unanimously endorsed to retain the mayoral post at last year’s mayoral election.