New faces

By Lia Bichel
The new councillors will replace former mayor and Springfield ward Lorraine Wreford and former Edrington Ward councillor Daniel Mulino.
Ms Wreford was elected as the Liberal State Member for Mordialloc on the weekend. She said Monday night’s council meeting was “most likely” her last.
Her resignation follows Daniel Mulino’s, who made a shock exit from council on 15 November, to take on a new role as advisor on the financial services sector for Federal MP and Financial Services Minister Bill Shorten.
Cr Wreford said she had enjoyed working with the Casey Council but looked forward to her new role.
She said she had strong ties with Mordialloc, having grown up there and worked several years in Cheltenham.
“I look forward to moving back.”
Cr Wreford said the driving factor in running for State Government was the challenge.
“One of the main reasons I wanted to move from local to State Government is that many issues we lobby for at a local level are really state issues,” she said.
“Hopefully I have done a lot for the community here but it is time to rise to a new challenge.”
Casey councillors wished her luck in her new role.
Mayfield Ward councillor Amanda Stapledon thanked Ms Wreford for support and said she planned to lobby for issues through her in the future.
“You have been a wonderful tower of strength in terms of fairness and peace. You always gave me your respect,” Cr Stapledon said to Ms Wreford.
“I will be knocking on your door, particularly for disability issues.”
Cr Aziz said he believed she would hold a soft spot for Casey.
“I can’t help but be happy for her because I know she spent eight years of her life in local government and I am sure she will advocate for local councils,” he said.
“I think she will be a huge loss to this city.”
City of Casey Manager Administration Ian Sparrow said Cr Wreford’s position would be filled by a countback which is expected to occur in January 2011.
“Due to the need to comply with times for advertising required by the Local Government Act, it is not possible for the countback to be conducted on the same day as the one scheduled for Cr Mulino’s position,” Cr Wreford said.