‘I WAS READY TO RETIRE’

NEW mayor Bruce Harwood has admitted that he was set to retire from local politics before the council was sensationally sacked last year.

“I can honestly say I would have retired in 2016 ... when our term would have finished,” Cr Harwood said yesterday. “But it wasn’t to be.”

After 13 years on the Geelong council, Cr Harwood was preparing not to contest the looming October 2016 election.

The enforced 18-month break provided welcome refreshment, and the desire to have his political fate decided by the voters helped sway him to contest last month’s poll.

“I’m a great believer in ‘the community will put you in, and the community will put you out’,” he said. “When I decided I would run, I decided I would do my best and do a good campaign, and be judged accordingly.”

After being first past the post in the Kardinia Ward, Cr Harwood then won the internal fourway battle to return to the city’s top office.

He was elected for a period of two years, with Brownbill Ward councillor Peter Murrihy to serve as his deputy.

Cr Harwood said increasing the connectivity of the city and alleviating transport pressures were high on his agenda.

Stating that he was leading a “great group of councillors” who brought a diverse range of experience and backgrounds, Cr Harwood is relishing the fresh start.

“It’s a good time to be excited, we should be rightly excited about what the future holds,” he said.