At a full meeting of Weston Town councillors last month (March 24), members voted to elect a new mayor and deputy to take over from the current office holders in May.
At the Mayor Making on May 19, Cllr James Clayton will hand the chains of office and mayoral robe to Conservative councillor for mid Worle, Sonia Russe, when she will officially take up the non-partisan role.
Labour councillor for Milton, Peter McAleer, will then also take up the role as deputy mayor too.
Cllr Clayton said: "I know both Cllr Russe and Cllr McAleer very well and they are two councillors that have the community at their hearts with everything they do.
"They will make a good mayor and deputy mayor and I wish them both every success."
Mayor-elect Cllr Sonia Russe
"I am overwhelmed with pride and appreciation to my fellow councillors in supporting my election as the next mayor of Weston.
"I was born in Bristol and moved to Weston 15 years ago at a time when I knew not one person in the town.
"Since then, I have benefitted from and have enjoyed the good humour, openness and friendship of many, many local people and I hope in this new role I will get to know many more.
"The things I love about Weston are endless; from the natural geography of the town, bay, beach, woods, big skies and wonderful sunsets.
"I appreciate many, though not all, of the manmade features of the town from the promenade, highly successful schools and many of the historic architectural features.
"Though the one regret for me was the loss of our pool, and in my early years at Weston I fought with others for the reinstatement of our beloved Tropicana.
"However, in keeping with the town’s motto - ever forward - there will always be things that need improvement and I, with your help, will work tirelessly to support those positive changes."
Deputy mayor-elect Cllr Peter McAleer
"I feel honoured to have received the support of councillors of all stripes and colours to support me in my new role.
"I hope to support the mayor-elect in the coming year with making the town the best it can be.
"It will always be my intention to continue doing my steadfast to represent the great people of Milton in addition to raising the fantastic profile of Weston.
"As secretary of Weston Fairtrade Steering Group, we succeeded in December in making Weston an official Fairtrade town.
"It was a culmination of two hard years effort and I'm extremely proud of the help from residents, local businesses and of course the town council in making this dream a reality.
"I have always stressed the importance of improving our public facilities, as demonstrated by my efforts to relocate Grove Park public toilets after putting forward a feasibility study on how inadequate their provision was, and I will continue this work as deputy mayor."
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