AFTER about three hours of deliberation last night between City of Perth councillors, Jemma Green became deputy Lord Mayor in a surprise twist.
Ms Green will now take the duties of Lord Mayor while Lisa Scaffidi steps back to await her appeals results.
Returning councillors Reece Harley and James Limnios made no secret they would run for the hotly contested position after the weekend’s local government election and both nominated during the meeting.
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READ NOWThe vote was deadlocked when both candidates received four votes each from their peers.
Councillors went behind closed doors to discuss further and then twice asked for an extra 15 minutes to continue talks.
They returned to the chambers and requested another hour behind closed doors, meaning a decision would not be made until at least 9pm.
Chief executive Martin Mileham informed the gallery members if councillors returned with two nominees and votes were tied again, a name would be drawn in a lucky dip.
When councillors returned at 9pm, Cr Harley nominated ally Cr Green for the position.
She was unopposed and sworn in as deputy lord mayor.
Ms Green declined to speak to media last night, but Cr Limnios said he was the one that suggested her during discussions.
“When we came to a gridlock I wanted to put the best interest of the capital city first so I said ‘guys I’m prepared to withdraw out of this’,” Cr Limnios said.
“People were quite shocked that I would do that.”
Cr Limnios said discussions did not get heated between councillors and he was not upset about missing out on the position.
“I am honestly not upset,” he said.
“If I decide to run for Lord Mayor, I may be upset if I didn’t win that.”
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