By Deanne Jeffers
WITH THE recent appointment of Ben Ladson to the Greater Shepparton City Council, for the first time in 12 months, Council has the full nine sitting councillors.
Mayor, Cr Shane Sali said he was excited to have Ben join Council and looked forward to the progress that could be made with a full panel of council members.
“It has been about a year since Cr Rob Priestly stepped back for the Federal Election, and as we all know, Kim O’Keeffe resigned later in 2022 to peruse state politics.
“I welcome Ben to the team and look forward to working with him to achieve strong outcomes for our community,” said Cr Sali.
Ben is a teacher and owner of Gamer’s Resort on Maude Street. He has lived in Greater Shepparton most of his life, moving to the local area with family at six-years-old from Kilsyth, Victoria.
He is a committee member with the McEwan Reserve Tennis Club and was educated at Gladesville Primary School, Guthrie St PS, Gowrie St PS, and Wanganui Park Secondary College.
Ben took the oath and was sworn into Council on Thursday, January 19. It is his first time as a councillor.
He was selected from a countback method, the second countback since the general election in 2020. In July of last year, Cr Dinny Adem was chosen by countback to replace former deputy mayor Rob Priestly. Cr Ladson’s appointment fills the vacancy left by Cr O’Keeffe’s resignation.
“Councillor Fern Summer suggested I stand for council back in 2016, which I did, and just come up short, but it was the support I had that encouraged me to stand again in 2020.
“Improving Council satisfaction was a motivating factor, amongst other things, and I believe the current councillors are achieving that, highlighted by Council response to the recent flooding,” said Cr Ladson.
He said his vision for Greater Shepparton is, “For everyone to be proud of where we live.”
