The mayor is the figurehead of the council. They are elected by their fellow councillors for a 1-year term. The mayor actively promotes and develops opportunities for the municipality. Cr Annalivia Carli Hannan was the Mayor of Merri-bek for most of the 2020-21 financial year.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is responsible for the day-to-day management of the council’s operations. They ensure that council decisions are implemented and provide advice to Council.

Mayor’s message

The past year has challenged us all. We have faced hardship, uncertainty and isolation. But Merri-bek has come together. To care for each other and help build a stronger community.

On behalf of my fellow councillors, I want to thank you for how you have supported each other. We have worked our hardest to help you:

• We focused on helping our older residents maintain social networks.
• Our libraries were a lifeline for many.
• We delivered food aid, mental health services and anti-racism measures.
• We waived fees and gave rent relief and grants to local groups.

Despite the challenges, together we have achieved so much:

• Construction of the Glenroy Community Hub began.
• Through our advocacy we achieved better outcomes for Merri-bek’s largest civic infrastructure project, level crossing removals.
• Our Zero Carbon Merri-bek – Climate Emergency Action Plan saw key milestones achieved.
• You embraced our food and green organics collection service.
• Our A Park Close to Home project continued, with 2 new parks opening.
• We made investments in our leisure facilities.

Elections in October 2020 brought a new council. Five new councillors joined us. Our key focus was on making a path out of the pandemic. We now have a council plan for 2021 to 2025 which sets our priorities for the future.

We are ready to tackle the challenges ahead and help you fulfil your potential. I hope you will join us in Merri-bek’s recovery.

Mayor Cr Annalivia Carli Hannan

You can download the Mayor’s full report (PDF 128Kb) for more information.

Chief Executive Officer’s report

We felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout 2020-21. We felt it in every part of our community and our organisation.

During these tough times, it has been our priority to keep everyone safe and connected. We did this while working within our strategic objectives of:

• strengthening our community
• supporting a progressive city
• governing responsibly.

Our response to COVID-19 had an impact on the goals we set before the pandemic. But we still finished the year strongly, completing 72% of our 58 council plan actions.

We also looked forward, planning how we could support our community to recover. We surveyed community members to learn more about the impact of the pandemic. Councillors endorsed our draft COVID-19 recovery plan in May 2021. This plan identified priority areas and recommendations to help us ‘build back better’.

Building a stronger Merri-bek was also a key focus of the work we did during the year on our new council plan. During 2020-21, we began developing this and other key plans for the next 4 to 10 years.

This has been a challenging year. Thank you to our councillors, residents and businesses for everything you do for Merri-bek.

Cathy Henderson Chief Executive Officer

You can download the CEO’s full report (PDF 129Kb) to find out more.