DAN BULL has been elected the new mayor of Bayswater after only two years on council.

At Baysy the mayor is voted in by councillors after an election, and at Monday’s special council meeting Cr Bull was unanimously elected as mayor, and Chris Cornish was voted in as deputy.

Out of the sitting councillors, former mayor Barry McKenna was the only one to hold onto his seat with Michelle Sutherland and Terry Kenyon both losing.

It was a pretty big turnout for Bayswater this year, with 31.8 per cent voter participation, compared to 25.4 per cent in 2015.

NORTH WARD

Michelle Sutherland lost her seat in North Ward after one term, garnering 1292 votes, and Mike Anderton’s comeback was unsuccessful with 979.

Newcomers Filomena Piffaretti (1566 votes) and Stephanie Gray (1447) were both elected, while Ben Reale-Cornel got 943 votes and Mark Whitehouse got 518.

WEST WARD

Terry Kenyon lost his spot in West Ward, with Lorna Clarke (1760 votes) and Giorgia Johnson (1583) winning the two seats up for grabs, closely followed by candidate Ben Dellar, who missed out by just 22 votes.

Greg Smith came fourth with 1407 votes, then it was a fair gap to Mr Kenyon (947 votes) and former councillor Martin Toldo (281).

Mr Kenyon’s election campaign had been hindered by an ongoing appeal against a bankruptcy finding stemming from fees he owes Lavan Legal.

That bankruptcy finding meant he couldn’t attend meetings or act as a councillor while the ten-month appeal dragged on.

At a candidate’s forum in the lead up to the election, Mr Kenyon had assured voters his legal troubles would be resolved and he’d be eligible to be reelected.

He was right: on Friday October 20, the Federal Circuit Court overturned that bankruptcy finding, meaning Mr Kenyon was eligible to resume duties for only a single day before being voted out.

SOUTH WARD

President of the Maylands Residents and Ratepayers Association Elli Petersen-Pik won the seat with 1242 votes (though he’ll now stand down as president), Kate Thomson got 1052 and Robyn Walsh 545.

CENTRAL WARD

Newcomer Steven Ostaszewskyj got a pretty good turnout with 1604 votes against long term incumbent (and mayor during the election) Barry McKenna, who won out with 1828 votes.

STORIES by DAVID BELL