Lane Cove Council has a New Mayor and Deputy Mayor

Lane Cove Mayors are elected by councillors for a two year term.  At the September 2023 Lane Cove Council meeting a vote was held to elect a Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
Scott Bennison, Liberal, is the new Mayor, and David Roenfeldt, Labor, is new the Deputy Mayor.

Scott Bennison was previously Lane Cove Mayor between September 2012 and 17 September 2013.

Voting for Lane Cove Mayor

Three candidates initially stood for the position of Mayor, Scott Bennison Liberal, the incumbent Andrew Zbik Labor, and Greens Councillor Rochelle Flood.   The voting on the first round was:

Rochelle Flood – 4 (Southwood, Kennedy, Flood, Bryla)

Scott Bennison  – 3 (Bennison, Brooks Horne and Mort)

Andrew Zbik – 2 (Zbik and Roenfeldt)

If there are three or more candidates, the candidate with the lowest number of votes for the position of mayor/deputy mayor is excluded as there must only be two candidates.  In this case, Andrew Zbik was excluded.

After the second vote, Scott Bennison was elected Mayor.  The vote was 5/4, with the Labor and Liberal Party councillors voting for Scott Bennison. The independents and Greens councillor voted for Rochelle Flood.

Rochelle Flood also stood for Deputy Mayor but was beaten by David Roenfeldt Labor.

Mayor Scott Bennsion’s Plans

ITC spoke to Mayor Scott Bennison and asked him what his plans were for his term (which will end when the next council election is held in September 2024).

“My priority as Mayor will be to work with the Labor councillors to bring stability to Lane Cove Council and to keep projects on track,”  said Mayor Bennison

“I also want to bring fun back to Lane Cove residents and to utilise The Canopy for more events.  One of my ideas is a January Month of Rock where we have cover bands every Saturday night.”

“There is really not much I can do in the rest of this term as there are only seven council meetings if you take into account the Christmas break and the caretaker role once an election is called.”  Mayor Bennsion further said.

Comment from Andrew Zbik

Andrew Zbik told ITC:

“It has been an absolute honour to have served as Mayor of Lane Cove over the last nearly two years.

When I first ran for Council in 2012 (unsuccessfully), it never crossed my mind that I’d be Mayor of Lane Cove.

Since being elected to Council in 2017, I have always considered it an honour to represent and serve our community.

I congratulate Clr Bennison on his election as Mayor and Clr Roenfeldt on his election as Deputy Mayor.

In my capacity as a Councillor, I’m still available to assist with any questions and help out where I can.”

There is no doubt that Mayor Zbik was a popular choice for Mayor.  His willingness to respond to social media enquiries and to get back to his constituents has made him one of the most accessible Mayors in Lane Cove’s history.

Below are just some of the comments left on In the Cove Facebook page after we posted about the Mayoral Election Results.

Independents Explain Why They Nominated Rochelle Flood

Councillor Kathy Bryla told ITC:

“When I first joined Andrew and David to run for council, we agreed to goals addressing climate change action and greater transparency in local government.

Over the past 18 months the use of casting votes and my belief that environmental commitments are given a lesser priority, concerned me.

In 2019 Lane Cove Council declared a Climate Emergency, passing this motion in chambers and adopting this commitment. Each decision we make should be placed through the filter of “how does it affect the climate” and thus affect the future of our community.

Rochelle has displayed a progressive, enquiring approach and engaged with both the community and the council team on difficult topics. I voted for her on Thursday night as I believed she was the right choice for Mayor, a succession plan in the way we can overcome the rising challenges presenting to our community.”

Councillor Merri Southwood told ITC:

“There were many reasons why I voted for Councillor Flood, and unfortunately, most of these reasons cannot be disclosed due to the confidential nature of council business.

“One of the reasons was a Mayoral Minute proposed by Andrew Zbik on the eve of the election.  This minute was tabled only a few days after a workshop was held, that discussed these issues in depth. The minute included statements that should have been discussed between councillors and not in a public forum.

In my view, the Mayoral Minute made the council look dysfunctional when we have worked hard to achieve numerous projects and make positive changes for our community.  The current council has achieved numerous goals, including a new easier to use council website incorporating a simpler reporting system, co-ordinating committees in areas where there is major construction, a new Development Control Plan and a plan to convert council chambers into a performing arts centre, providing for better use of council facilities to name a few.

Councillor Rochelle Flood’s calm and measured manner in Council meetings and her ability to articulate her views clearly impressed me in the two years we have worked together on Council.

She has been one of the main instigators of the progressive initiatives of Council, and I was excited by the prospect of the election of such a fine candidate.”

Councillor Bridget Kennedy told ITC:

“When I was first elected to council and voted for Andrew Zbik to be Mayor, I spoke to him about the use of casting votes and how I would not be able to support him if it was used.   I believe that if a matter divides council and needs to be resolved by a casting vote, it should be taken off the agenda and then referred back to a councillor workshop to be resolved in a collegiate manner.  Andrew Zbik used his casting vote several times and this did not sit comfortably with me. There are other reasons, but I’m not able to discuss them due to their confidential nature.

Over the term of this current council, I have been impressed with the work undertaken by Councillor Rochelle Flood and believed she was the best person for the job. She is a very competent speaker, remains calm and fair-minded, works in a collegiate manner, and she researches issues thoroughly before deciding on how to vote.   She also represents a younger demographic, and rents in Lane Cove. It’s great to have a colleague who represents these demographics as part of the decision-making.

Councillor Rochelle Flood told ITC:

“Three Independent Lane Cove Councillors – Councillors Kennedy, Southwood and Bryla supported me to nominate. I believe this is an indication of how cooperatively and well we work together for Lane Cove. Together we saw this as an opportunity for a fresh start for Lane Cove, for progressive leadership with a focus on ensuring the community was heard. Lane Cove residents deserve a council, which ensures decisions are made in a transparent way, that prioritises the needs of the community, and the right of community members to ask questions of their elected council.

While myself and others had tried in good faith to work with Councillor Zbik, he became unsupportable after using his casting vote on a number of contentious issues and putting forward a Mayoral Minute which in my view seemed to undermine the wishes of the community to be heard, and our role as councillors to represent their interests. 

It is disappointing that rather than addressing these concerns in a constructive way, Councillor Zbik and his Labor Colleague supported a Liberal climate-change denier for Mayor. Notwithstanding this temporary disappointment, I will continue to work hard to represent our community.”  

ITC is in the process of requesting comments from Councillor Kathy Bryla and Andrew Zbik.  We will update this article when we receive their comments.