West Ward extraordinary election run and won as Stephen Grimmer prepares to join City of Albany council

Stephen Grimmer has been elected to fill the vacant west ward seat on the City of Albany’s council. Mr Grimmer was announced as the winner of the extraordinary election on Friday evening. He tallied 394 votes to win the count ahead of Kristen Pyrz-Brown (312), John Jamieson (227), Talitha Archer (158) and Nelson Gilmour (155). After nominating for council Mr Grimmer told the Advertiser he described himself as a down-to-earth, honest, and reliable person who “truly values the beauty of our region”. He said an area the City could improve in would be community engagement. “I believe in the need for residents to have a voice in what happens in their area and, if elected, will always be available to listen to what is important to them,” he said. “There is an enormous amount of wisdom, experience and energy out there in the community that could be harnessed in a way that benefits everyone.” Mr Grimmer will be sworn in at Tuesday’s special council meeting. The City had been targeting a 30 per cent participation rate for the extraordinary election, but fell short of the mark. It had made inquiries as to whether it could hold over the vacancy, brought about the death of Alison Goode in August, until next year’s ordinary election but was informed there was no way to do that given current legislation.