Voters in Indigo Shire have opted for stability in their council, with all five of the councillors seeking re-election being successful, along with two others who have done the job in the past.
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Mayor Jenny O'Connor with 2394 first-preference votes, 22.59 per cent of the total, was the first to be elected after easily passing the first-preference quota of 1325.
After the preference distribution, the next six councillors to be elected, in order, were deputy mayor Sophie Price, Peter Croucher, Larry Goldsworthy, Roberta Horne, Diane Shepheard and Bernard Gaffney.
John Harvey had received a high first-preference count - his 565 votes was 26 ahead of Cr Shepheard - but he was overtaken when preferences were counted.
Cr O'Connor said the re-election of the previous five councillors was "a pretty clear message that we're heading in the right direction".
She is also keen to continue the job as mayor.
"I feel like I'm halfway through what we were doing working with other levels of government to get resourcing and support we could," she said.
"I would like to continue that work while the recovery is underway, but that will be up to my fellow councillors."
Ms Horne was the only elected councillor unable to attend Friday's declaration of the poll in Beechworth, but her election was welcomed by Cr O'Connor.
"It's great that Rutherglen has got a representative in - it's been a big issue for the Rutherglen community. They can rest easy now, they've got a voice at the table," she said.
"I feel this council does represent the whole of Indigo Shire in a really positive way."
The election of Tangambalanga's Mr Croucher means that town now also has a representative on the council.
"I'd like to see a little bit more involvement in the shire," Mr Croucher said.
"River access is one of our biggest issues."
He had a four-year break, after eight years as a councillor up until 2016, and said he is ready for "one last hurrah" in the job.
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The councillors who served from 2016 to 2020 agreed that Indigo has passed many plans and strategies over that four years, so they hoped this term would be one of action.
"There will be some really crucial funding come out of the COVID-19 and bushfire recovery, so we're hoping to get our hands on more of that to do some more projects," Cr Price said.
Cr Goldsworthy nominated the mountain bike trail between Beechworth and Yackandandah as one of the "unfinished business" projects.
Cr Shepheard said Indigo Council had spent a lot of money on consultants over the past four years and she wanted to make sure that was not wasted.
"That continuity will be great - we know what we're doing, we'll get in and get those things happening," she said.
Cr Gaffney said it was important for the council to get back to local issues such as repairing roads and footpaths, and going to federal and state governments for grants.
Election updates were on the window
Residents of Indigo Shire have been able to keep track of the council election counting better than most others, thanks to preliminary results being posted to the window of the Beechworth electoral office each day.
Indigo chief executive Tervor Ierino, speaking at the declaration of results yesterday, thanked the staff for the updates and finishing the counting in quick time.
"We all appreciated the updates on the window of the office. Lots of cars were pulling up," he said.
He also paid his respects to retiring Indigo councillors Barb Murdoch and James Trenery.
"It's quite a testament that all five councillors who stood again have been re-voted in," Mr Ierino said.
"There's a real show of support from the community for the direction we've taken so far.
"That's a good vindication for those councillors."
