Patricia Gill, Denmark Bulletin
Kingsley Gibson was elected unopposed as shire president at the Denmark Shire Council’s special meeting on Monday night.
Councillor Gibson has served on the council for six years and for the past two years as deputy shire president to Ceinwen Gearon who did not seek re-election to the council.
Jan Lewis is the new deputy shire president elected after winning a two-way contest with Nathan Devenport, five votes to four.
Cr Devenport was one of three sitting councillors returned to office in the October 21 election, the others being Janine Phillips and Cr Gibson.
Cr Gibson, a former beef and wine grape farmer of three generations, has been involved in business and is now working as a residential supervisor at the WA College of Agriculture Denmark.
He was also part of the South West Region Planning Commission for the WA Planning Commission and said his ‘style’ as president would be inclusive and collegiate with meetings a time for everyone to be heard.
“We all do better when we all do better,” he said, alluding to song lyrics signifying the interconnectedness of society.
Cr Gibson wanted councillors to gain experience in their roles so they could represented the Shire of Denmark at functions and warned them that among the community their role was 24/7.
A council did not operate like the board of a corporation as there were limitations on what they could do.
Cr Gibson’s fellow councillors were called upon to feel free to approach him about any concerns they might have about what he did.
“The community has entrusted us to make decisions, sometimes difficult, on their behalf – I’m sure we’ll all do what we can to honour that trust,” he said.
In standing for deputy shire president, Cr Devenport put his youth as an advantage and his willingness to develop his skills to bring the Shire to a new level.
A local businessman, Cr Devenport said he had the ability to make contact with people of all ages throughout the community, had never missed a shire meeting and was prepared to be objective in decision-making.
Cr Lewis had served for 12 years and foreshadowed the possibility of not standing for re-election in two years.
She had always been certain of her ability to fulfill the deputy shire president role.
Her council interests had been in youth, waste, planning and roads to enable Denmark ‘to grow but stay the same’.
Cr Lewis would endeavour to engage with the community positively and noted, on occasions, the gap in decision-making and how the community viewed those decisions.
New councillors Dominic Youel and Aaron Wiggins were sworn in at the meeting along with the three returning councillors.
Cr Wiggins was top polling in the election with 574 first preferences, 24 per cent of the vote, while Cr Gibson was second on 416, 17.3 per cent.
Next was Cr Phillips with 377, 16 per cent, Cr Youel, 348, and Cr Devenport, 228.
Candidates Peter Dingey and Carolena Grayson were not elected along with former councillor Donald Clarke.
Mr Clarke was thanked for his service along with Dr Gearon.
The new and returning councillors have been elected for four years.
This article appeared in the Denmark Bulletin, 26 October 2023.
