Two Shellharbour councillors to contest deputy mayor vote

Councillors Robert Petreski and Kellie Marsh have both indicated they will put their hand up to contest the position during a vote at an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday night.

The successful candidate will work alongside mayor Chris Homer as he leads during his first term.

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Cr Petreski told the Mercury he believed he was the right person for the job because he was the incumbent, having been voted into the role in September last year after John Murray did not re-nominate.

"With a new mayor, and six out of nine councillors being new to the council, it is important to have some continuity," he said.

"My demeanour at council meetings is calm and methodical."

Cr Petreski said he had been leading from the sidelines in a respectful way.

"We as an elected body must represent the constituents in the best possible way. That has always been my rationale behind being on council."

Cr Petreski was born and lives in the region, where he has raised his children, volunteered for sporting groups and established a business.

He said his vision was to build on Shellharbour's strengths including the natural environment and coastline, Shellharbour City Centre, Shell Cove Marina, Albion Park Regional Airport, Lake Illawarra Foreshore and Croome Road Sporting Complex.

He said he wanted to continually explore new economic, social and lifestyle opportunities.

Councillor Kellie Marsh will also nominate and said she had the experience for the role as she was the longest-serving councillor and has previously been the mayor and deputy mayor.

"I will bring something different to the role and I am quite the champion for social justice and I have a good take on the financial side of council," she said.

"Financial sustainability will be important as the community is still in the pandemic. Council has taken quite a hit financially and we need to make sure we can continue to deliver the services to the community.

"I have a good relationship with all the councillors and with a new mayor I would like to help in any way."

Cr Marsh said she also wanted to be a voice for and provide balance for the whole community not just those who live on the coast.

Cr Marsh and Cr Maree Edwards' positions as councillors could be re-contested in another election for Ward A after the NSW Electoral Commission launched legal action in the Supreme Court seeking a ruling on the validity of results after the iVote system crashed on election day, leaving thousands of people unable to cast their vote.

At last week's council meeting, councillors voted to not support a council-funded re-election in Ward A, that there should be no further election in the ward and the results that stood on the December declaration should be accepted.

"There has been no precedent set for the court action so we don't know what is going to happen," she said. "We have to look at what we have now and vote based on what is in front of us. At the moment we are elected councillors and I believe I'm the best person for the position and I will nominate accordingly."

Other councillors were contacted, with some choosing not to respond or declined to comment.

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