Outgoing administrator Tim Overall has been elected as the first mayor of the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council.
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And in a boost for Palerang, Trevor Hicks has been elected as its first deputy mayor during an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday evening.
Cr Overall received seven votes from the 11 councillors to secure the position, including Trudy Taylor, Peter Bray and Michele Biscotti (and his own vote) who ran on the same ticket.
He also secured the votes of Trevor Hicks, Pete Harrison and the Liberals’ Mark Schweikert.
The same seven councillors also voted for Cr Hicks, securing his majority.
Cr Hicks was previously a councillor on the former Palerang Council.
A Captains Flat resident with a small business in Queanbeyan, Cr Hicks’ experience spans the region.
He has sat on several committees for the region, played rugby for the Redbacks, and stood on Palerang council from 2012 until amalgamation.
He is particularly concerned to make the region small business friendly.
“I’ve been an active participant on council, I’ve got a strong connection with Queanbeyan businesses, and I feel that the businesses have been let down” he said, prior to the election.
Cr Overall served as the mayor of Queanbeyan City Council from 2008 to 2016.
He had served as the administrator of Queanbeyan-Palerang since last year's forced amalgamation, but will no longer hold that position as of Wednesday's council meeting.
The Overall ticket secured almost 35 per cent of the formal votes cast at the September 9 election.
Both Cr Overall and Cr Hicks ran for election as independent candidates.
Nominations for mayor were received for Cr Overall and Kenrick Winchester.
Cr Hicks and Labor's Radmila Noveska nominated for the deputy position.