By Vanessa Chircop
AFTER months of speculation, infighting and controversy, Cr Tony Briffa was last Friday elected as Hobsons Bay City Council’s new Mayor, with Cr John Hogg his deputy.
Despite much conjecture that Cr Luba Grigorovitch would also be nominated for the role, she did not attend the vote, along with Cr Peter Hemphill.
In his first speech as Hobsons Bay’s new Mayor, Cr Briffa said he felt honoured to be elected into the role.
“Given my passion for human rights, community services and the environment, it would be no surprise to many of you that my mayoral program will focus on community engagement, advocacy and the environment,” he told the packed house.
Cr Briffa’s mayoral run hit a speed bump last Thursday, when a website discovered by this newspaper announced him as mayor more than 24 hours before the councillors were due to vote.
Despite the blunder, Cr Briffa defended the website telling Star it was only a demo and he was not pre-empting the vote.
Cr Grigorovitch said she could not vote for Cr Briffa because he gave her no confidence that he would lead the team fairly and inclusively.
“He has been found to have committed a misconduct, and a VCAT ruling on a serious misconduct charge is pending,” she said.
“I considered it improper for him to be mayor especially as he needs to complete 12 months of mentoring by a local government representative outside Hobsons Bay but under the supervision of the Mayor.
“My position was reinforced on citing his website where he pre-empted our vote on Friday night by describing himself as mayor and John Hogg as his deputy.
“Cr Briffa claimed it was a ‘trial’ site but any right thinking person would believe otherwise: it makes a mockery of the democratic process given the deal had obviously been stitched up well beforehand.
“My lack of confidence extends to Cr John Hogg.
“I don’t believe Cr Hogg deserves to be deputy mayor and I could not bring myself to vote for him as I would have no confidence in his ability to act independently without fear or favour.
The night also marked the election of Victoria’s first intersex mayor.
Cr Briffa, who identifies as both male and female, is a strong advocate for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer community.
He said he plans to wear his mayoral robes as much as possible including at the gay pride parade next year.
Cr Altair said while legal processes involving Cr Briffa were incomplete she was not in a position to support his candidacy.
