Mohya Davies achieves major milestone as a councillor

WHILE the rest of South Gippsland Shire’s councillor group are in their first term, Cr Mohya Davies brought valuable experience to the role and was acknowledged at the November council meeting for her 10 years’ service as a councillor.

She was previously on council from 2008-2016.

The period of turmoil leading up to the 2021 South Gippsland Shire Council election prompted Mohya’s decision to put herself forward as a candidate after five years’ break from council.

“I was disappointed that the council had been dismissed and concerned about the damage that had been done, both in the community in terms of confidence and trust, and also with the staff,” Mohya said.

She noted the dysfunctional council led to a terrible staff retention rate with people leaving in droves and taking vast quantities of corporate knowledge with them.

With a new councillor group elected in 2021, Mohya’s council experience was deemed important by the other councillors who chose her unopposed as mayor for the first year of council’s term.

“I was privileged and honoured to be made mayor in that first year, and it was wonderful to work with a very different group of councillors,” she said.

While the transition to council involved lots of work for an otherwise inexperienced councillor group, Mohya said the support of council staff, along with the assistance of council monitor Prue Digby for the first year of council’s term ensured the process ran smoothly.

Mohya spoke of her observations regarding the current councillor group.

“The thing I have noticed with this new group is that they’re keen to upskill and take on training and get involved in Regional and State levels of local government, (such as) the Municipal Association of Victoria and the Australian Local Government Women’s Association,” she said.

Mohya said most of the current councillors were motivated to stand for similar reasons to her and have worked together to restore community confidence in council.

While she believes the current council has achieved a great deal, she said there is always more to accomplish.

Mohya worked in early childhood education for many years, 12 of those as director of the Fish Creek Kindergarten.

She and her husband John, who run a farm overlooking Wilsons Promontory, have also operated several businesses including a popular butcher shop in Foster.

They raised six children, including two adopted daughters from Ethiopia, and are proud grandparents of nine, eight of whom still live in Gippsland.

Mohya reflected on her total of 10 years as a councillor.

“I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work at that level with staff and other councillors,” she said, acknowledging it has been a big commitment.