Independent councillor Catherine Cumming has been elected the mayor of Maribyrnong.
Cr Cumming was voted into the role in a special meeting on Tuesday night, paving the way for her second stint as mayor in her almost 20 years on the council.
She last held the role from 2012 to 2013, when independents wrested control of the Council from the ALP for the first time.
ALP councillor Sarah Carter was elected as the new deputy mayor.
It is the first time an ALP councillor has held either the mayoral or deputy roles in four years, after the independents used their 4-3 majority to initiate a complete ALP freeze-out into the last term.
The ALP had previously taken advantage of their majority to sew up the mayoral position.
The make-up of the new Council is less clear-cut, with three independents, three ALP councillors and a Green.
Cr Cumming told Star Weekly it is fitting a woman holds the role given women hold a 5-2 majority on Council.
She also pointed to her high first preference vote of 4321 votes, 35 per cent of the Stony Creek ward votes.
The next highest primary vote was Cr Carter’s 2297 votes, 19 per cent of River Ward first preferences.
Cr Cumming said in a speech following her election that she has been listening to the community for 20 years and taken on board some of the priorities of her fellow councillors.
“We have been elected on a number of shared platforms. One of the biggest issues this Council faces is actually population growth,” she said.
“We want to obviously increase the amenities, keeping our City clean, graffiti free and removing dumped rubbish.”
Cr Cumming said the council wants to build new childcare centres and improve sporting pavilions and recreation facilities.
She said greater investment will be needed from state and federal governments to improve infrastructure, increase skills training and opportunities for refugees, and rebuild social housing stock in Braybrook.
