By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
ANGELA Long was elected unopposed as Greater Dandenong mayor last night, pledging to represent indigenous groups and young people.
Cr Long, who last served as mayor in 2000, spoke of the honour of representing residents in ‘‘one of Australia’s most vibrant municipalities’’.
She listed among her priorities to reversing the ‘‘inaccurate stigmas’’ about high rates of crime and drug use in the municipality, representing young people and continuing her long-standing work with the Dandenong and District Aborigines Co-Operative.
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‘‘I’ll represent each and every one of you who make this city a better place,’’ she said.
Cr Long said the success of the council ‘‘didn’t depend on one individual but all of us working with each other for the greater good’’.
Most councillors formed a united front as they stood to congratulate the mayor in their inauguration speeches; the exceptions were councillors Maria Sampey and John Kelly.
That may be one of the few concurrences between the pair of Silverleaf ward councillors, who were seated apart from each other in the council chamber.
Cr Sampey was infuriated by the election tactics of councillors Kelly and Long; Cr Kelly for preferencing her last in the recent council elections, and Cr Long for ‘‘running her husband Barry against me’’.
Cr Peter Brown last night spoke up about retaining the council’s Springvale offices and library for community use.
He said the offices building had a ‘‘reinforced footing’’ to allow it to ‘‘grow up’’ rather than ‘‘grow out’’ but there were proposals for it to be ‘‘razed by bulldozers’’.
Cr Brown talked up the prospect of moving the under-sized library into a retro-fitted offices building, and retaining the vacant library as a community space.
