Lismore’s new deputy mayor Darlene Cook said she’s looking forward to the challenges and responsibilities that come with the role over the next year, until the September 2020 council elections.

At Tuesday night’s Lismore City Council meeting, Darlene was voted into the role, taking over from councillor Elly Bird, who has spent the last year wearing the deputy’s hat.

Darlene said she was happy to put her hand up for the job, after three years learning and growing as a councillor.

“Before I ran for council, I’d never worked in a public forum - It can be scary stuff, especially talking to the media,” she laughed.

“I’ve been on a massive learning curve about the local government sector – it’s a huge diverse industry and I was ready to put my hand up and be more visible as a deputy mayor.

“I’m one of two councillors that live in the outlying villages – not in urban Lismore or Goonellabah - and I’d like to make myself accessible to communities living in the villages like Whian Whian and Nimbin and get the feel of what people outside the urban areas want - so they feel their voices are heard.”

In her new role, she’s ready to take on supporting mayor Isaac Smith, as well as the rest of the councillors and the general manager - and be as accessible as possible to the community.

“The workload of the mayor is high – with networking, meetings and community events to attend,” she said. “I share the load when I can - and see the role as one encouragement and support and make sure everybody is ok.”

Darlene encourages other people in the community to consider running for council election next year and to come along to A Night with Mandy Nolan for Prospective Councillors on September 18, at Lismore City Bowling Club. (For more information, read Mandy calls you to consider running for local council)

“There’s always something to get your teeth into and you are putting back into your community,” she said. “It’s an important role and an exciting journey with highs and lows that gives you a path of challenges.

“As a councillor, you get to make lots of decisions and we want people on council who are willing to put in the hard yards and ask questions and be involved in decision making.”

Outgoing deputy mayor, councillor Elly Bird, said she was ready to “share the role of deputy mayor around".

“I think it’s good for other councillors to get out and amongst it and raise their profile,” she said.  

“It’s an absolute privilege to represent our community and feel the joy that comes out of it. It gives us more opportunity to be engaged with things that matter.”