Van Styn to critics: Let me earn your respect

Newly-elected Geraldton mayor Shane Van Styn says he wants to win over those who did not vote for him.

Speaking after he defeated two-time mayor Ian Carpenter this week, Mr Van Styn said he would try his "absolute best to win over this town", adding “for those naysayers, I want you to give me the chance to earn your respect”.

Mr Van Styn won Saturday's election count with 2391 votes to Mr Carpenter's 1849.

About 10 years in the top seat, Mr Carpenter offering the following parting advice.

“Being mayor is a full-time occupation and quite a demanding job,” he said.

“I know our new mayor has several large responsibilities in town already and I hope he is able to give 100 per cent commitment to his new position. I wish him all the best.”

Mr Van Styn will juggle his new position as mayor with the ownership of several small businesses in town, including security and fitness offices.

He said though he understood the challenge, he’d set up structures to allow his businesses to be managed indirectly.

“I have full confidence in my staff to be able to manage the businesses without my direct involvement. It’s the reason I hired them,” he said.

“I have no doubts at all that I’ll be able to give all of my attention to the position as mayor and for those naysayers, I want you to give me the chance to earn your respect.

“I know Mr Carpenter has given me some very big shoes to fill and I’ll try my absolute best to win over this town.”

A top to bottom budget review is the first item on Mr Van Styn’s agenda.

“For too long the council has focused on big ticket items instead of securing the fundamentals of our town,” he said.

“So the first and most important thing for me is securing a sound physical footing for Geraldton and to do this we need to have a thorough look at our current budget.

“Instead of focusing on things like global tourism, I want to first make sure we take care of maintaining the facilities we currently have then move on to the bigger picture.”

According to Mr Van Styn, there are four major focus points he will take in to consideration during the review.

“Kerbside recycling, verge collection, new footpaths and restoring our playgrounds are all top of my priority list,” he said.

“When we get those fundamentals sorted, then we can start looking at bigger things.”

Under the Local Government Act, the mayor is the official spokesperson for council and performs a ceremonial role at civic functions.

Like all council members, the mayor has full vote powers.

In the event a vote is split, the mayor makes the casting vote.