30 September 2009 saw Clr Tony Issa hang up the mayoral chain as the first Liberal Lord Mayor in NSW history. It remains an honour to be part of a Liberal team who not only increased our number elected onto Council to our highest ever, but also to be part of the team that helped secure Parramatta Liberals with a special place in NSW history.

Defeating the two Labor candidates by a vote margin of 9 to 6, Parramatta’s new Lord Mayor is Clr Paul Garrard, and the new Deputy Lord Mayor is Clr Chiang Lim.

Parramatta’s longest-serving councillor, Clr Garrard, now serves the city for the fifth time during his 35 years on council.

He promised to press ahead with the long-awaited Civic Place project, to open public debate on whether Parramatta should have a popularly-elected mayor, and to develop Parramatta as a wireless city.

New Deputy Lord Mayor, Clr Chiang Lim, is only the second Chinese-Australian to occupy this position in NSW history. Previously, the Hon Henry Tsang MLC was the first Chinese-Australian to be elected in 1991 as Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney. Deputy Lord Mayor Clr Chiang Lim has served Parramatta City Council for 10 years, and comes from the information technology and telecommunications industries.

Click here for photos from the Lord Mayoral election night.

Click here to read the new Deputy Lord Mayor’s acceptance speech. 

Different from the title Mayor, the title Lord Mayor is a special gift from Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. This title is only given to cities that have a geographic and national significance. In the case of the City of Parramatta, the title Lord Mayor was given by Her Majesty as a Bicentennial gift in 1988. In New South Wales, only four cities have this privilege - the Cities of Sydney, Parramatta, Newcastle and Wollongong.