General
For:
All
Friday, 7 February 2025
The City has given a fond farewell to Mayor Williams, recognising his outstanding contributions and dedication to the community and local government throughout his seven-year tenure as Mayor.
In his role as Mayor, on behalf of the Mandurah community and with the Council, Mayor Williams set out to lead the delivery of a transformational agenda for Mandurah, with a strong focus on economic diversification, community wellbeing and enhancing community pride and aspiration.
In 2018, Mayor Williams instigated the creation of a citizen-led vision for the City of Mandurah that would guide the city for the next 20 years. Under Mayor Williams’ leadership, what followed was the delivery of Mandurah’s largest-ever community consultation, involving over 2000 people working directly with the City via workshops, community-led discussions and surveys.
The City recognises a legacy marked by vision and milestone transformations for the city.
Late last year, the WA Electoral Commission approved Council’s request to avoid an expensive by-election and instead have the Deputy at the time, Caroline Knight, fill the Mayor position until the planned Council Election in October.
Mayor Knight has now taken up the Mayoral role, building on her seven years as Deputy Mayor and continuing to serve the community on Council.
Mayor Knight has lived in Mandurah for almost 30 years and was first elected to Council in 2011. She served as Deputy Mayor alongside Mayor Williams since 2017 and has been part of the West Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) as a local government representative and currently as a WAPC Commissioner, appointed by the Minister for Planning. She was also recently reappointed by the Minister for Local Government to the State’s Local Government Advisory Board.
Mayor Knight was awarded the 2023 WALGA Local Government Merit Award for outstanding contributions made to Local Government.
With a background as a medical scientist and a strong commitment to community involvement, Mayor Knight is deeply passionate about her local area and is looking forward to continuing to serve the community in this new role.
“I am excited and honoured to be able to take up the opportunities and challenges this new role presents and continue to lead and serve the community as I have done throughout my time on Council,” she said.
“Thank you to outgoing Mayor, Rhys Williams, for his leadership to Mandurah and the Council over the last seven years. He has led a compassionate, ambitious and collegiate Council that remains responsive to the needs of our community. Mandurah has truly benefitted from his time as Mayor and on behalf of Council I thank him for his commitment.
“From the big transformative capital works through to smaller neighbourhood projects and programs, Mandurah certainly has so much happening and a lot to look forward to, so I am thrilled to take on this new position and keep the momentum going.”
