Cr Cunsolo elected as new Port Phillip Mayor

The City of Port Phillip has a new Mayor, with first-term councillor Heather Cunsolo elected in what will be just her third year of serving on the council. 

Serving in the Gateway Ward, which includes South Melbourne and Fishermans Bend, Cr Cunsolo was elected Mayor at St Kilda Town Hall on November 9 alongside long-time Lake Ward Cr Andrew Bond, who was elected as Deputy Mayor. Both will serve a 12-month term. 

After being elected as Mayor and succeeding outgoing Mayor Marcus Pearl, Cr Cunsolo said it was “an honour, privilege and huge responsibility to be the 15th mayor of this city”. 

“I am coming to this role with a strong focus on community and as someone who listens before formulating my views,” Cr Cunsolo said. 

“There are plenty of challenges ahead of us. Working as a team, we can assure our community we have their best interests at heart in our decision-making.” 

Cr Cunsolo, who lives in Port Melbourne with husband Joe, said she had no doubt their three children would look back on the next 12 months as an exciting time when they were older. With a background in architecture and residential design, she promised to bring her passion for good practical design to the role and paid tribute to the influence of Port Phillip’s longest-serving Mayor Bernadene Voss in supporting her journey on council. 

Advocating for the transformation of the Station Pier freight yards and progressing the proposed “Green Line” project in Balaclava were among the projects she said Cr Cunsolo hoped to advance during the next 12 months.

Cr Bond, who succeeds Cr Tim Baxter as Deputy Mayor, said he was sure Cr Cunsolo would live up to the high standards set by previous mayors.

Cr Bond’s decade of service as a Port Phillip councillor was recognised at the mayoral election meeting, having been the only councillor to have won three successive four-year terms on the current council.

Outgoing Mayor Marcus Pearl told the meeting that serving the Port Phillip community as its Mayor had been one of the best opportunities of his life.

“I did my very best to make sure we put our best foot forward and with a united front,” he said. •