THE votes are in and Stonnington Council will have some new faces, as well as some familiar ones from earlier councils.
Five councillors from 2012-16 will not be returning to chambers, with Claude Ullin not contesting a seat, and Erin Davie, John McMorrow, Jim Athanasopoulos and Tini Athanasopoulos failing to secure a position.
In East Ward, Jami Klisaris made the move from North Ward and will be joined by newcomer Glen Atwell and former mayor and councillor Sally Davis (1999-2004). None of the three incumbent councillors in the ward were returned.
In North Ward, incumbents Matthew Koce and John Chandler will both return, with council newcomer Marcia Griffin also to represent the ward.
And in South Ward, Melina Sehr made it home with 37.1 per cent of the primary vote, and two former councillors — Steve Stefanopoulos (2004-2008) and Judy Hindle (2002-2012) — won the other two positions, taking over from Claude Ullin and ousting Tini Athanasopoulos.
Out of the successful candidates, Melina Sehr had the highest primary vote (37.1 per cent), followed by Matthew Koce (20.24 per cent), Marcia Griffin (19.72 per cent), John Chandler (19.55 per cent), Jami Klisaris (14.27 per cent), Glen Atwell (13.83 per cent), Sally Davis (13.23 per cent), Judy Hindle (9.52 per cent) and Steve Stefanopoulos (9.37 per cent).
Preferences therefore played a big part in the election, with Glen Atwell succeeding in East Ward despite Betty Zervas getting a higher primary vote (14.04 per cent), James Cooper (20.04 per cent) getting more primary votes that Marcia Griffin and John Chandler in North Ward, and both Nicole Gunn (9.88 per cent) and Mike Scott (12.49 per cent) initially outpolling Judy Hindle and Steve Stefanopoulos.
