At Ordinary Meeting of Council tonight, Councillor Tolhurst announced her resignation as Borough of Queenscliffe Mayor, effective immediately. She will remain on as Councillor for the remainder of the term.
Cr Tolhurst said "I have made the difficult decision to resign as Mayor and remain as Councillor for the Borough of Queenscliffe for the remainder of the Council term, to accommodate the arrival of my second child.
Resigning from the Mayoral position is an acknowledgement that it is a very demanding role, and to fulfill it, do it as I believe community expects, I would wish to continue working as I have been - being visible, active, responsive, available and advocating for my community and the Borough. If not able to do the role in this way, I feel obliged to step down, but it was the level of demand and intensive community involvement that was the source of great reward in the role. Serving as Mayor has been one of the great privileges of my life.
Specifically, I wish to thank the community – it is your commitment to each other, the drive for better, the passion for people and place that makes the job so special. To my councillor colleagues, thank you for your dedication to community; to the staff of the Borough, it has been a delight to get to know you better in this role; thank you for your ongoing service to our community. I look forward to serving the community for the remainder of the term."
Councillor Tolhurst was first elected to Council by countback in 2022 and was elected Mayor later that year. She was re-elected as Mayor in 2023 and will stay on as a Councillor through until the end of the term in November this year.
At the Council meeting, Cr Ross Ebbels was voted in as the new Mayor of the Borough of Queenscliffe for his fourth term. Thanking Cr Tolhurst for her service to both the community and Council, Cr Ebbels said "I'm honoured to have the support of my fellow Councillors in electing me as Mayor of the Borough of Queenscliffe, I'm looking forward to working with Councillors, officers and our community, and I thank Cr Tolhurst for her time and dedication in this role, understanding what a difficult decision this was for her to make."
Cr Rob Minty was elected Deputy Mayor. Cr Minty said he was looking forward to working with Mayor Ebbels over the final months of this term.
Members of the public can watch a recording of tonight's Ordinary Meeting of Council here.
