Councillor Doug Curran was notably absent from Tuesday’s council meeting that saw a shock upset in the election of Deputy Mayor.
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Councillor Dino Zappacosta took out the deputy position with a clear lead of three votes in a count that went to second preferences.
Three Councillors put their hand up for the deputy position Doug Curran, Anne Napoli and Dino Zappacosta.
Cr Curran's absence meant he could not vote in the election, which many believed he was likely to win after only losing the mayoral election by 118 votes.
Cr Mike Neville moved to lay the matter on the table for the fortnight as he said there had been no presentation from any candidates and he didn’t know who they were.
Mayor John Dal Broi shut down the proposition and did not accept it.
“I don’t like what you are trying to do quite frankly,” he said.
Councillor Simon Croce moved that the role of Deputy Mayor be elected by preferential ballot for a period of 24 months, the motion was carried and voting quickly commenced.
The atmosphere was tense as the the ballot papers were drawn up, handed out, collected and counted.
To be successful, a candidate had to achieve an absolute majority which with the absence of Cr Curran meant six votes to get them over the line.
On the first count Cr Napoli received three votes, Cr Curran four and Cr Zappacosta four.
On a second preference count Cr Curran received four votes and Cr Zappacosta seven, seeing him newly elected as Griffith’s Deputy Mayor.