‘It’s going to be up to you,’ says departing Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington during final council meeting

“I think we’ve got a terrific future in the City of Albany and it’s going to be up to you to make sure we take it in the way we want it to go,” Mayor Dennis Wellington said in his final ordinary council meeting as the City’s mayor. Mr Wellington’s parting words were met with a round of applause from councillors and those in the gallery on Tuesday. Not normally one to comment during the section of meetings set aside for reports from members, Mr Wellington took the opportunity this week to briefly reflect on his 20 years as an elected member, including the final 12 as mayor. He recounted a story from his time at boarding school when told someone he was from Albany and the response was, “Oh, you poor bugger”. “He said, ‘It’s cold wet and windy and it has nothing going for it’, and I said, ‘I don’t know if I agree with that’,” Mr Wellington said. “I think it’s certainly a different situation these days and we have a lot going for us and a lot of that comes down to the council and the councillors I’ve worked with over the 20 years I’ve been here. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, and I look forward to watching on from the sidelines as you continue on with that work.” He thanked the staff and described them as the best “by a long way in any local government in WA” and repeatedly mentioned how he appreciated the time he had spent with the elected members he had served alongside. “We’ve gone from a situation of being in debt and having no reserves to having a small debt these days and a reasonable amount of reserves — we’re in pretty good shape,” he said. “I will continue to watch as you show this council will continue to look after Albany.” Mr Wellington’s time as mayor will come to the an end when results of this years local government election are declared on October 21.