John Dal Broi (left) and Mike Neville
JOHN Dal Broi is ready to "hit the ground running" when the final result of the mayoral election is announced later this week.
While preferences could still swing the result incumbent mayor Mike Neville's way, Mr Dal Broi said he was "quietly confident" of having the mayoral chains securely on his shoulders by Friday.
"The vibes are good," he said. "I'm not going to say I've won but I've got a 500-plus vote buffer and I like the position I'm in - I'd rather be in my position than in Mike's."
But with many voters claiming to have ignored preferential voting in the mayoral election, it looks like Mr Dal Broi will be swept back into the top job.
"I can only wait for the announcement it's not worth crunching the numbers because you don't know how the preferences are going to go but from what I've heard, it appears a lot of people just put one for the mayoral role," Mr Dal Broi said.
The former mayor is currently leading the race for the top job with 24 per cent of the vote.
Mike Neville is close behind him on 20 per cent but second-term councillor Bill Lancaster is still in with a chance with 17 per cent of voters wanting him to lead the city.
While Mr Dal Broi hadn't yet popped the champagne, he said he was already planning his first steps as mayor of Griffith.
"Obviously if I'm elected I want to hit the ground running," he said. "I have thought of some things I want to implement immediately.
"I've got a few plans in mind of how I want to change things but I don't want to reveal them just in case I don't get in and it will all be a waste."
One change Mr Dal Broi would reveal was a move towards more transparency in council and councillor decisions.
"I want to bring more transparency to the community about how council goes about its business," he said. "I want to take the community with us when we make decisions."
Despite Mr Dal Broi's strong position as frontrunner, former long-serving mayor Jim McGann slammed the use of preferences in an election where the city leader was meant to be popularly elected.
"I thought a popular vote was a popular vote," he said. "When it first happened with Mike Neville and he got in easily with 54 per cent of the vote it was fine but it's not as clear this year.
"As far as I'm concerned we voted for the mayor we wanted."
No result had been announced for the mayoral election by the time The Area News went to print last night.
Mayoral vote
John Dal Broi: 3082
Mike Neville: 2559
Bill Lancaster: 2221
Allan Bennett: 1489
Dino Zappacosta: 1121
Anne Napoli: 1002
Simon Croce: 791
Lance Perry: 260
Leon Thorpe: 223
Councillor vote
John Dal Broi: 2592
Mike Neville: 1661
Bill Lancaster: 1446
Dino Zappacosta: 883
Christine Stead: 837
Pat Cox: 794
Anne Napoli: 593
Simon Croce: 570
Paul Rossetto: 530
Doug Curran: 407
Harnek Dhanoa: 364
Brian Hopper: 332
Rina Mercuri: 241
Leon Thorpe: 210
Alison Balind: 188
Lance Perry: 149
* * * *
THE Griffith mayoral race has taken on a new dark side after candidate John Dal Broi was inundated with threatening phone calls earlier this week.
Mr Dal Broi said "a gentleman" rang him four times on Monday and abused him over the phone.
The caller refused to identify himself but Mr Dal Broi said he had passed the number on to police.
"In all my years I've never experienced anything like it," he said. "It leaves a bad taste in your mouth and it really upset my family."
