YEAR 11 Gunnedah High School student Rachael Billingham will replace Adam Marshall and act as Mayor of Gunnedah Shire Council tomorrow after being announced as the winner of Council’s annual Mayor for a Day competition.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The competition, now in its fourth year, is one of Council’s initiatives during NSW Local Government Week to stimulate interest in local democracy and promote the role local government plays in the community.
“We want to take the opportunity during Local Government Week to reach out to the community, especially young people, make them more aware of our roles and responsibilities as a Council, what we do, the processes we follow and most importantly, how they can be more involved and informed,” Mayor Adam Marshall said.
“The Mayor for a Day competition is a great way to do this and this year Council received many creative, informed and well considered entries – they were very impressive.”
Mayor Adam Marshall made the announcement of the Mayor for a Day yesterday afternoon at a ceremony where finalists, local high school students Sarah Hutchison and Jenni Morris, were also presented with awards, by Deputy Mayor Colleen Fuller.
As Mayor for a Day tomorrow, Rachael will spend the morning touring Council facilities including the Waste Management Facility, Visitor Information Centre, Library, Town Hall precinct, saleyards and Community Care Centre. In the afternoon she will spend time with Cr Marshall and Council’s senior staff receiving briefings on the major issues affecting the community and council.
Rachael will assist Cr Marshall chair the final meeting of the council term in the evening, meet with Councillors and help make cheque presentations on behalf of council to a number of community organisations.
Cr Marshall said the Mayor for a Day competition was open to all secondary students in Gunnedah Shire. Students were required to write a submission stating what they would do if they were Mayor of Gunnedah Shire Council.
“In her entry, Rachael suggested implementing some very practical measures to help young people find the most suitable profession locally, based on their abilities and passions, and also to help develop the skills and training of locals to ensure there’s enough people with trade qualifications to meet the demands of a growing mining sector as well as local small businesses,” Cr Marshall said.
“Rachael showed a very good understanding of the issues affecting Gunnedah and some positive strategies to help counter them. I’m really looking forward to having Rachael at Council tomorrow.”
More coverage on Page 9
