Perth Voice Interactive

IN the wake of Vincent mayor Emma Cole announcing she would not recontest her seat at October’s election, two sitting councillors have put up their hand for the top job this week.

Cr Suzanne Worner and Cr Ron Alexander were both elected in 2021 but represent pretty different visions for Vincent’s future direction.

RON ALEXANDER is not content with the status quo at Vincent council. 

A former director general of the Department of Sport and Recreation and inaugural senior coach of the West Coast Eagles, he was made a member of the Order of Australia for the Queen’s birthday in 2019 for “significant service to sport and recreation, and to public administration”.

He voted against the June budget, concerned the council was once again taking in more ratepayer’s money than they needed, and continuing a tradition of overestimating how much of their capital works schedule they could get done given labour and material shortages. 

Asked if he was ready to make the jump up to mayor after only two years on council, Cr Alexander lightly chuckled, and said, “I think I’ve got a fair record of being in leadership positions – at the sport and recreation department with 18 sites around WA, being involved in building things like the [Optus] Stadium, running programs for local government like the Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund… so I’ve had lots of experience leading organisations and ensuring there’s integrity and value for money, and [keeping] people happy in the workplace.”

Last week former Vincent mayor John Carey said whoever steps up to the role of mayor should treat it like a full-time job.

Cr Alexander, who currently has a pretty busy schedule as patron of the Edmund Rice Centre WA and sitting on boards, says he’s prepared to scale back his volunteer work to put in the hours as mayor.

He’s not a member of any political party, and could be the first non-Labor mayor in Vincent’s history.

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SUZANNE WORNER feels it’s mostly smooth sailing at Vincent and she’d represent more of a continuity of mayor Emma Cole’s direction.

Cr Worner has worked in TV and radio production, events management, and is general manager of the Revelation Perth International Film Festival.

She is keen to step up for the mayoral role as she says in her two years council so far she’s enjoyed being “invited into people’s lives. 

“I love to be engaged with people and meeting with people… I’ve spent more time at sporting events than I have in the rest of my life, in the last two years.”

A health scare followed by surgery to fix leaking cerebrospinal fluid in 2022 has also prompted Cr Worner to seize the day and jump at the opportunity of a vacant mayoral seat (and she adds, “I have the neurosurgeon’s tick of approval” that she’s in good shape to run). 

She hasn’t always been lock-step with the current council – both Cr Worner and Cr Alexander voted against the plan to remove the first hour free in public carparks, one of the most contentious issues among local business owners in the past year. 

But she says overall the council’s running well and she’d want to follow in Ms Cole’s footsteps, and she’d likewise make it a full time job to spend plenty of time on community engagement.

Cr Worner’s term as councillor ends in October, and she’ll also be running for her current seat as a backup to her mayoral tilt. 

Cr Worner is also not a member of a political party, so could also be the first non-Labor mayor in Vincent’s history.

by DAVID BELL