Bega Valley Shire Council has a new Mayor after Cr Michael Britten was elected from a field of four candidates before a full gallery on Wednesday afternoon. The other candidates were Crs Ann Mawhinney, Russell Fitzpatrick and Keith Hughes. Former Mayor Bill Taylor did not nominate. After eliminating the other nominees, Cr Britten was elected from five votes. The new deputy Mayor is Cr Liz Seckold who also won from a field of four candidates – Crs Mawhinney, Fitzpatrick, Seckold and Tapscott. Cr Tony Allen had nominated but withdrew his nomination at the meeting. In his short acceptance speech, Mayor Britten revealed that he and Cr Seckold had been former class mates and said he looked forward to working co-operatively with all the councillors. In Cr Taylor’s speech, he said he was proud of the Bega Valley Shire Council – a good council by any measure that could stand up to comparison with any in the State as well as a Council that cared about its community. Bega Valley Shire