A surprise three-way mayoral race has resulted in the election of Wahroonga ward councillor Kim Wheatley as the newest mayor of Ku-ring-gai, replacing Christine Kay. 

What happened: Three councillors ran for the mayoralty. The Lorikeet reported on Tuesday that Indu Balachandran and Kim Wheatley were the frontrunners for the position, each appealing for support from the nine other councillors. 

A third contender: This did not stop Barbara Ward from throwing her hat in the ring, though she failed to garner a single vote — not even her own — and was eliminated in the first round of voting. 

In the first round, votes were split 6 – 4 in Wheatley’s favour. Balachandran’s supporters were Alec Taylor, Christine Kay and Barbara Ward. Wheatley was supported by Matt Devlin, Martin Smith, Jeff Pettett, Sam Ngai, Cedric Spencer.

In the second round, Wheatley’s majority increased to 7, with Ward flipping sides. Following this, Wheatley assumed the throne of Ku-ring-gai Council chambers. 

Heavy is the head: As mayor, Wheatley will inherit responsibility for managing the catastrophic Norman Griffiths Oval redevelopment, a massive infrastructure backlog and the implementation of a 29 percent rate rise. 

The new position will grant Wheatley a casting vote, meaning when council is tied on an issue, she decides which way to proceed. 

Councillor Matt Devlin was also elected to the position of deputy mayor unopposed. If the mayor is ill or absent, the deputy will take their place. Both Wheatley and Devlin are unaligned politically and not members of any party. 

In Ku-ring-gai, the annual mayoral fee is $81,380, in addition to the councillor fee. This means Wheatley will be paid $112,020 annually by ratepayers. The deputy mayor receives the regular councillor fee of $30,640.