The Lachlan Shire’s most recently elected mayor is well accompanied with the tools of the trade, with thirty years of local council under John Medcalf’s belt, and an Order of Australia Medal to recognise his contribution to community. 

Elected over Councillor Dennis Brady in a 7-3 vote, Mayor Medcalf is beginning his sixth year as mayor of the Lachlan Shire. 

“I enjoy trying to get things done for the community, interaction with people and trying to achieve things, not only for the council but with joint organisations. You feel like you’re making a bit of progress,” Mayor Medcalf said. 

Despite his thirty year history, Mayor Medcalf is still in awe of the new accomplishments he sees from both the Lachlan Council and community, after the recent election saw the shire’s first ever council with a gender balance. 

“Now we have five men and five women, which I’m very, very excited about,” Mayor Medcalf said. 

Prior to this year, the council had three women to 7 men. Mayor Medcalf believes that the more balanced representation between genders will be of great benefit to the council.

“You’ve got different opinions then haven’t you…it certainly does bring a different way of thinking so that when we do have the debate in the chamber it comes down to half plus one,” he said. 

With a new council at the ready, Mayor Medcalf said that it’s a big few years ahead for the Lachlan Shire. 

Amongst the changes are a main street upgrade for Lake Cargelligo leading down to the lake and a water town mural in Tottenham.

With a number of towns to keep happy within the shire, Mayor Medcalf said that understanding the community’s needs as a whole is a crucial challenge to overcome to be a successful Council. 

“The pandemic is making life a little bit harder with the engagement and the strategic planning within the council, and making sure we’re going down the right track to what the community wants in particular towns and the completely different areas,” Mayor Medcalf said. 

Following the election’s covid-19 related delay, Mayor Medcalf said that a busy term will be started by one of the busiest January’s he’s seen in his thirty year career on Council. 

“January is usually a pretty quiet month, but now we’re with Australia Day coming up, the induction of the new council and the council meeting…I think it’s the busiest January we’ve had in all the years I’ve been tied up with local government,” Mayor Medcalf said. 

The Lachlan Shire Deputy Mayor position was contested by Councillor Paul Phillips and Councillor Dennis Brady. Councillor Phillips was elected Deputy Mayor by 7 votes to 3.