New Bunbury deputy mayor Tresslyn Smith looking to bring city into the future, boost rate base & promote arts

A passion for Bunbury’s history and a strong vision for its future has led Bunbury City councillor Tresslyn Smith to be crowned deputy mayor. Cr Smith quickly emerged as one of the four frontrunners in the race for the role of mayor at the October local government election, eventually losing out to Jaysen Miguel by just 475 votes. However, she was able to claim a swift victory at Tuesday night’s ballot for the position of deputy mayor, beating out her fellow councillors Gabi Ghasseb and Karen Turner by winning eight of the 13 votes. Cr Smith told the Times it was a “great honour” that was still “sinking in”. “We haven’t had a female deputy in at least eight years,” Cr Smith said. “It’s fabulous to have that female representation. “We’ve got nine female councillors too, so it’s really wonderful.” Returning for a second term on council, Cr Smith said she was looking forward to supporting the mayor to “move Bunbury forward”. “Over its history, Bunbury has had certain phases where it’ll move forward and stop for a bit, then move forward again,” she said. “I think its time to move forward and I can see the signs for Bunbury to jump into the future again.” Born in Bunbury, Cr Smith has lived in the city since 1971 and spent three decades working in consumer affairs before retiring in 2012. “I don’t think Bunbury can rely only on its rates, so we have to seek funding from State and Federal governments to help us to realise the projects that we need to put forward to keep the City growing,” she said. “By doing that, then we’ve got more people coming in, better jobs, so we can do more for the community if we’ve got a bigger rate base.” Cr Smith said she was a community-focused -person with a deep affinity for Bunbury’s rich -history and vibrant arts community. “There’s lots of things I’m looking forward to achieving ... I want to make Bunbury more beautiful,” she said. “I’m really interested in the arts and I’d like to promote that because I think the arts are a great economic driver and I think people don’t realise that.”