Chris Cherry re-elected Mayor of the Tweed Shire, despite two councillors refusing to vote

By Sarah Waters

Councillor Chris Cherry will remain Mayor of Tweed Shire for the remainder of the current term after being reappointed to the role unopposed at the Tweed Shire Council meeting last Thursday.

Ms Cherry was the only nomination for the mayor’s position. She will serve in the position for another year, until the upcoming NSW Local Government election on Saturday, September 14, 2024.

During the extraordinary meeting, Ms Cherry was unanimously declared Mayor by five of the seven councillors in attendance - Meredith Dennis, Reece Byrnes, Nola Firth, Warren Polglase and herself.

Councillor James Owen and councillor Rhiannon Brinsmead chose to abstain from the vote as they do not support the current process of electing the Tweed Shire Mayor.

Councillor Owen moved a Notice of Motion at a previous council meeting on August 17 asking fellow councillors to allow the community to decide how the mayor is elected

– by the public or by the councillors.

In a joint media release councillor Owen said none of his fellow councillors supported him and councillor Brinsmead in the vote, meaning the community does not have the opportunity to decide how their mayor is elected.

“Based on the volume of community feedback that we have received, we strongly believe that had the elected body supported a process to allow a referendum on how the mayor is elected, that the interpretation of democracy, the current process is not what we deem to be democratic.”

Councillor Owen and councillor Brinsmead and democracy.’

“The current elected body has a huge focus on community engagement and consultation, and we are proud of that, but our support; we do not support the process by which she was elected.”

Under NSW Local Government legislation, the position of Mayor is community would have overwhelmingly voted to choose their own mayor,” they said.

Dennis will remain in her role as Deputy Mayor until December when the term of her position expires, and an election is undertaken.

Addressing a full Council Chamber, Mayor Cherry thanked her fellow councillors for their support and said she remained committed to working hard for Tweed residents.

“I thank everyone for their continued faith and trust in me,” Ms Cherry said.

“For the next year, I will be concentrating on trying to address the housing crisis, which is the biggest issue facing us today, along with the impact of climate change.

“I will continue to work hard to ensure every decision we make is done in the best interest of the community at large,” she said.

“Whilst we have the utmost respect for people’s individual said abstaining from the vote was not a reflection on the job that Ms Cherry was doing as mayor but was based on their ‘principles and firm beliefs in consistency we can’t be picky and choosy with what we listen to the community about.

“We must be consistent with our approach.

“Councillor Cherry has for a period of two years.

Council has resolved to have a Deputy Mayor, which is not mandatory, to be appointed for a one-year term.

Councillor Meredith

This is Ms Cherry’s third term as Mayor, after holding the position from September 2020 until the election in December 2021. She was first elected to Tweed Shire Council in September 2016 as an independent and previously served as Deputy Mayor in 2016/17, 2018/19 and in 2019/20.