Mr Mansfield who is no stranger to the mayoral role, serving as the last Yarrawonga based mayor in 2014, said he had been approached by a number of people across the shire to contest the position.
“I have accepted the requests to contest the mayoral election,” Mr Mansfield said.
“Cobram have had the mayoral position for the past seven out of 10 years and I believe the large-scale projects in Yarrawonga could be in jeopardy.
“Major projects in Yarrawonga that are ready to go are without supporting funding from either state or federal governments.
“These projects are the Multi – Sports Stadium, the new library and community hub, also the possible acquisition of the Primary School site.
“To lobby for funding, I believe that the mayor being from Yarrawonga is vital in being successful.
“I am hopeful that the newly elected councillors from this area support my candidacy.”
A deputy mayor will also be elected at the meeting.
The official declaration of councillors is occurring 12 days after the provision results were announced as to allow time for all candidates to inspect the voting tallies and call for a recount if required.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions there is to be no public gallery at the civic centre, but residents can watch a livestream on the Moira Shire Council Facebook page or grab your copy of the Chronicle next week for all the information from the night.
Record number of women elected to councils
Although Moira Shire Council will only have two female representatives out of the total nine newly elected councillors, the Victorian Government is on track to reach gender parity in councils by 2025 with a record number of women elected in the 2020 Local Government elections.
With results now confirmed by the Victorian Electoral Commission, 272 women will take their place on councils for this term – representing 43.8 per cent of councillors, a new high for both Victoria and the nation.
“Victoria is leading the way in pursuit of gender equality and more women on councils will mean councils more closely represent the communities they serve and make better decisions,” Minister for Women Gabrielle Williams said.
Minister for Local Government Shaun Leane added that Victoria is the first state in Australia to top 40 per cent women councillors and shows strong progress towards the 50 per cent target set by the Victorian Government’s gender equality strategy, Safe and Strong.
“This is an absolutely outstanding result for the people of Victoria. Gender equality and diversity benefits all of us. It makes communities, councils and our state stronger,” Mr Leane said.