Greater Shepparton City Council Mayor, Councillor Shane Sali, has been elected as Deputy Chair of Regional Cities Victoria (RCV) for 2023.
Cr Sali was elected to the position this morning at the RCV General Meeting. This is the first time he has held the position with RCV. He will work alongside Cr Andrea Metcalf, Mayor of City of Greater Bendigo, who was re-elected to the position of Chair.
Cr Sali said he was pleased to be elected to the position, saying he was looking forward to working closely with RCV to achieve positive outcomes.
"I chose to nominate for Deputy Chair as Andrea, the Mayor of Bendigo, is an exceptional person and Chair. I thought I would take this opportunity to work closely with her over the next year to see what we can achieve for our regional cities," he said.
"This allows the regional partners to remain relevant with our current state and federal government connections."
RCV is a leadership group comprising of the Mayors and CEOs of the 10 largest cities outside of Melbourne, including Shepparton, Bendigo and Mildura, with these cities collectively home to more than 600,000 Victorians. RCV members work co-operatively on issues and projects of mutual interest that affect regional cities, as well as the whole state of Victoria, with a vision to build a sustainable Victoria through regional growth.
Cr Sali said he would like to acknowledge and thank the RCV representatives for their support in electing him to the position of Deputy Chair.
"I look forward to seeing what we can achieve collectively," he said.
"Regional cities across Victoria have faced several years of hardship however they have shown great resilience and strength as they continue to work through their recovery.
"It is so important that we continue to advocate to improve the infrastructure, services and amenities in regional areas to continue to attract people to work, live and visit these parts of the state."
