The City of Bayswater is a local government area in Perth, Western Australia. It was established in 1897 as the Bayswater Road Board, with a chairman elected by the board members as its leader. In 1961, it became the Shire of Bayswater following the passage of the Local Government Act 1960, with a president elected by the councillors as its leader. In 1983, it achieved city status, becoming the City of Bayswater, with a mayor elected by the councillors as its leader. Since 2023, the mayor of the City of Bayswater has been popularly elected rather than elected by the councillors.
The first chairman of Bayswater was Henry Thomas Halliday, who was elected to the position at the board's inaugural meeting on 7 June 1897. He resigned on 20 December 1899. The current mayor of the City of Bayswater is Filomena Piffaretti, who was elected as the city's first female mayor on 18 October 2021. She became the city's first popularly elected mayor in October 2023. Prior to 2023, the mayor was elected by the councillors after each election, making Bayswater is one of the few councils to do so in 2021.
Political parties do not typically endorse candidates in local government in Western Australia. However, councillors are often members of political parties. Dick Ardagh was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for the North East Province from 1912 to 1924, serving concurrently as chairman of the Bayswater Road Board from 1920 to 1923, and in 1924. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party until 1917, and a member of the National Labor Party following 1917.
Two mayors/presidents/chairmen have continued on to become members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the Australian Labor Party. Merv Toms was the member for Maylands from 1956 to 1962, member for Bayswater from 1962 to 1968, and member for Ascot from 1968 until his death in 1971. He served on the council during this time as well, albeit not as chairman.May, Catherine. 2013, p. 264 John D'Orazio was the member for Ballajura from 2001 to 2008. He left the Labor party in 2006, sitting as an independent politician, before joining again in 2008. He lost preselection for the seat for the 2008 state election, so he contested it as an independent.
Other Bayswater mayors known to have been part of the Labor party include Lou Magro, Terry Kenyon, Barry McKenna, Dan Bull and Filomena Piffaretti. Lou Magro quit the Labor party in May 2008 after failing to be preselected for the electoral district of Morley. Sylvan Albert is known to have been a member of the Liberal Party of Australia, having been their candidate for the electoral district of Maylands at the 2013 Western Australian state election.
Between October 1978 and February 1979, the Shire of Bayswater was run by a state government appointed commissioner, after the council was sacked for mismanagement, corruption and various actions breaking the Local Government Act. As such, the council did not have a mayor during that time.May, Catherine. 2013, p. 285–289The West Australian. 13 October 1978. p. 1.
Bayswater Road Board Chairman Term Henry Thomas Halliday 1897–1899Sewell, Margaret. 1972, p. 35 George Squire Berkley Pickett 1900–1901May, Catherine. 2013, p. 123 William Leonard Smeed 1901–1902May, Catherine. 2013, p. 126 Thomas Cherry 1902–1903 Edward Stevens 1903–1904 R. H. Beard 1904–1905 John Donald 1905–1907May, Catherine. 2013, p. 128, 135 Thomas Beard 1907May, Catherine. 2013, p. 135 Alfred Archibald West 1907–1909May, Catherine. 2013, p. 135–136 John William Williams 1909May, Catherine. 2013, p. 136–137 Ivan Granville 1909–1911May, Catherine. 2013, p. 137 Henry Owen Robinson 1911 Christian P. Christiansen 1911–1913 Henry Owen Robinson 1913–1915 Christian P. Christiansen 1915–1919 Henry Owen Robinson 1919–1920 Richard George "Dick" Ardagh 1920–1923May, Catherine. 2013, p. 153 George Hickling 1923 Richard George "Dick" Ardagh 1924May, Catherine. 2013, p. 157 Edgar Rowe 1924–1926 Albert McGilvray 1926–1934May, Catherine. 2013, p. 157, 191 James Earl Batey 1934–1935May, Catherine. 2013, p. 191 J. Andrews 1935–1936 M. M. Roger 1936–1937 Roberts V. Hill 1937–1942May, Catherine. 2013, p. 193 Henry Albert Osborne Hawkins 1942–1947 Edward Menmuir 1947–1951May, Catherine. 2013, p. 226 John Mervyn "Merv" Toms 1951–1956Sewell, Margaret. 1972, p. 35, 41May, Catherine. 2013, p. 226, 264 Christian John Wotzko 1957–1961May, Catherine. 2013, p. 254, 264
Shire of Bayswater President Term Christian John Wotzko 1961– Robert A. Cook –1975 Arthur P. Hinds 1975–1978May, Catherine. 2013, p. 281, 285 Neville Davis 1979–1982May, Catherine. 2013, p. 290, 293 Carl C. Cardaci 1982–1983
City of Bayswater Mayor Term Carl C. Cardaci 1983–1984May, Catherine. 2013, p. 294, 297 John D'Orazio 1984–2001 Lou Magro 2001–2005May, Catherine. 2013, p. 361 Terry Kenyon 2005–2007 Lou Magro 2007–2009 Terry Kenyon 2009–2013 Sylvan Albert 2013–2015 Barry McKenna 2015–2017 Dan Bull 2017–2021 Filomena Piffaretti 2021–present
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