TWO Bayswater councillors bid farewell to council and ratepayers at their final council meeting last night.
There will be six vacancies up for grabs in the October local government elections.
South ward councillor John Rifici and Deputy Mayor Stephanie Coates of West ward confirmed their retirement from council, while Cr Alan Radford reflected on his 14-and-a-half years as a councillor despite not confirming whether he would be running in the October elections.
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READ NOWMayor Barry McKenna announced he will be trying to retain his spot in the Central ward.
Cr Michelle Sutherland will be running again for North ward while Cr Terry Kenyon has not indicated whether he would run or not.
Cr Rifici thanked City staff and said it had been a very interesting and enjoyable process.
Cr Coates said it was a great honour to serve the community for the past four years.
“It hasn’t always been easy and I hope that in future there is inclusion and respect and that the council can focus on serving the community rather than politics,” she said.
She said the pedestrian crossing on Guildford Road, shift towards nature playgrounds, Airbnb policy and soft activation of the Bayswater town centre were some of her highlights.
Cr Radford said he was the oldest and only “paper-free” councillor, and was disappointed with the slow take-up of computers by other councillors.
Cr Radford thanked his wife Vera for her support over the years.
“During our terms as councillors, we owe a lot to our partners who put up with eating alone, going out to places without us because we have a meeting and then get woken up at midnight when we return from a long meeting,” Cr Radford said.
Cr McKenna said he was undecided for most of the year but made up his mind to run as a candidate.
“For much of this year, I have been saying yes and no,” he said.
“I do thank the current council…my fate now is going to be in the hands of the ratepayers.”
The local government ordinary elections will be held on 21 October.
Council will go into caretaker mode from tomorrow 4pm and the next committee will be on November 7.
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