Oscar Parry
The youngest of this term’s councillors, Sunbury’s Jarrod Bell was elected as Hume mayor for a one-year term along with previous mayor Naim Kurt as deputy.
Cr Bell, the first Sunbury-based mayor since Jack Ogilvie in his 2008–09 term, was elected at the November 19 Hume statutory meeting.
In his acceptance speech, he said he thanked his fellow councillors for placing their trust in him to serve as mayor.
“I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity and I am inspired by the responsibility we all share,” Cr Bell said
Cr Bell said that Hume’s mission as a council is “simple, yet profound – to ease the burdens of our residents facing today”.
“This means getting the basics right – good roads, reliable rubbish collection, safe parks, and clean streets. These are the services our community expects, and we have a duty to deliver them well,” he said.
“But it’s more than just the basics. Families across Hume rely on services that go beyond infrastructure. Services like childcare, community centres, libraries, and aged and youth programs. These are the programs that support and strengthen families. That help lift up those doing it tough.”
Cr Bell spoke of his family’s history in the region, who “like the people of Hume, built our state”.
“We were, and have always been, and will continue to be a city of people who make things. Who build things. Who have done the jobs others don’t want and have created the prosperity of our country for generations,” he said.
Cr Bell is a lifelong Sunbury resident and was born in the suburb.
Cr Kurt said he feels Hume has a “strong leadership team.”
“Myself as deputy, I’ll be able to offer strong support to our new mayor as the outgoing mayor,” Cr Kurt said.
The first ordinary Hume meeting of this term will be held on Monday, December 9.
