Shire of Morawa President, Karen Chappel, has been elected President of the WA Local Government Association.
Councillor Chappel (pictured) has acted in the role since December last year.
She said she was honoured to be elected to the position and would build upon the existing relationships she had with WALGA Members and stakeholders.
“I’m looking forward to working together with the Local Government sector to help deliver the best results for our collective communities,” Cr Chappel said.
“As an Association, we are committed to advocating and facilitating sector solutions with future focussed and evidence-based policy positions to amplify the voice of Local Government in Western Australia.
“The State Government has initiated reform of Local Government and legislative change is ahead of us. We can look to the future and make decisions that are best for the whole sector with courage and foresight.”
Cr Chappel has been Morawa Shire President for 13 years and a Councillor since 2005. She is a WALGA Life Member and was appointed twice by the then Minister for Local Government to a mentoring team for Elected Members to guide good governance and sound decision making.
Cr Chappel was formerly a member of the Local Government Advisory Board, and currently represents Local Governments on the State Road Funds to Local Government Advisory Committee and the Mid West Development Commission.
Alongside Cr Chappel, Town of Claremont Councillor Paul Kelly was elected WALGA’s Deputy President.
Cr Kelly has been a Councillor at the Town of Claremont since 1994, serving more than 10 years of that time as Deputy Mayor, and was previously WALGA Deputy President between 2004 and 2005.
A fellow WALGA Life Member, Cr Kelly is also a Board Member of LGIS. He has extensive board experience and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is currently Executive Director of the Economic Regulation Authority, although resigning from this position to focus on Local Government matters and has been an employee of the Senior Executive Service of Government for 20 years.
WALGA CEO Nick Sloan congratulated Cr Chappel and Cr Kelly on their election, saying he looked forward to working with them in progressing WALGA’s advocacy for WA Local Governments.
