Councillor Harry Bramer has been elected as the new Ross Town Mayor and Councillor Valerie Coker has been elected as Deputy Mayor.

Cllr Bramer was nominated by Councillor Phil Cutter at the meeting on Monday, May 14th, for his ‘valuable work, which was often unseen and unsung during the transfer of assets’. This nomination was seconded by Councillor Jenny Hyde who said: “I have known Cllr Bramer for many years and admire the quite often unseen way he has managed what has been a difficult time for the County.”

Councillor Caroline Utting nominated Councillor Jane Roberts for the position of Mayor. She said: “Jane has been a Councillor since 2007, she has done a lot of extremely important work regarding the transfers and has attended many civic events in this town on a regular basis.” This nomination was seconded by Councillor Julian Utting who said: “I cannot support Cllr Bramer, he has not attended one civic occasion, such as Remembrance or the Civic Service, and if he cannot attend events such as the dedication of the Falklands Memorial Bench how can he be a representative of this Council?”

There was a named vote and Cllr Bramer was elected 10 - 6.

Cllr Cutter nominated Cllr Coker who he said has done a lot of work for the town outside of the Council and sits on various committees, Cllr Nigel Gibbs seconded this nomination.

Cllr Caroline Utting nominated Cllr Roberts as Deputy as she is a long serving Cllr and works for the whole the area, Councillor Caroline Bennett seconded the nomination.

Again there was a named vote and Cllr Coker was elected.

The new Mayor of Ross, Cllr Bramer said that he was looking forward to serving and had selected Papyrus as his charity of the year. He said he has no direct personal connection with the charity which works to prevent young suicides but has close friends who do.

Cllr Cutter thanked Cllr Gibbs and his wife, Gill for the superb job they had done for Ross, representing the Council and all the people of Ross.