By Casey Neill
Could councillor Matthew Kirwan do “the unlikely” and become Greater Dandenong’s mayor?
He fears his Greens membership will virtually render him ineligible on the Labor-dominated council, but he’s got community support to take on the role and some encouraging words from Mayor Jim Memeti.
“I think it’s possible for every councillor to nominate and to want to become mayor,” Cr Memeti said.
“What I look for in a mayor is whether I’d be able to work with him or her and what results we can achieve together.
“I sat down with every councillor and I asked them for their support.
“A lot of them gave me an interview.
“It’s not just belonging to a political party.
“It’s all about trying to, as a council, work together.
“Why would they support you as mayor if they can’t see you with the same vision?”
After Cr Memeti’s election by his fellow councillors for the third time on Thursday 10 November, several community members suggested it was “time for a change” and to share the role around.
Gaye Guest said on the Journal’s Facebook page that fellow Red Gum Ward representative Cr Kirwan received more primary votes in last month’s election than Cr Memeti.
“Many residents are not happy about the aligned party councillors who stack the votes to vote their own in as mayor,” she said.
Unsuccessful council candidate Brad Woodford agreed that Cr Kirwan “deserves a go at it”.
“But, unfortunately, it would seem these days unless one is a member of the ALP they simply have no hope of becoming mayor in Dandenong,” he said.
“Mark my words, next it will be Roz Blades then back to Sean O’Reilly before eventually heading back into the hands of Heang Meng Tak again… and then the cycle will commence again.”
Cr Kirwan told the Journal that he wanted to be mayor during this four-year council term but “this is unlikely to ever happen”.
He said eight of the 11 councillors were ALP members bound by party rules to vote for any ALP mayoral candidate.
“Despite being a Greens member I have the community’s best interests at heart,” he said.
“I have a lot of normally Labor and Liberal voters vote for me for that reason.”
