New lord mayor to target ‘completely unacceptable’ safety issues, cleanliness

Nick Reece has been sworn in as Melbourne’s 105th lord mayor, promising to be hands-on and get things done.

He was elevated to the top job on Tuesday by the city council after Sally Capp stepped down – just months out from the City of Melbourne elections.

Reece is widely expected to run for lord mayor at the October elections, but he’s made no announcement and, for now, says he’s focused on the task at hand.

“I will give every fibre of my being to the job. I plan to be a very hands-on lord mayor,” he said. “I like fixing things, solving problems, getting things done, making decisions and moving on and making things happen.”

Reece was sworn in after a unanimous vote at a special council meeting on Tuesday afternoon. Capp handed in her resignation to City of Melbourne chief executive Alison Leighton on Monday.

As the lord mayoral position became vacant less than six months before elections, the council opted to automatically appoint the deputy to the role rather than hold a byelection at a cost of up to $1.3 million.

Reece, dressed in the lord mayor’s robes and chains, was all smiles on Tuesday as the audience, including his family, applauded.

“It is the honour of my life to serve the city that I love in the role of lord mayor,” he said.

He also thanked Capp for her energy and “extraordinary drive” during her six years in the role.

Councillor Rohan Leppert congratulated Reece and praised him for his commitment to the city.

“I know you will not be wasting a moment in this role,” he said.

Reece told The Age the key things that needed to be fixed were city safety and cleanliness.

“The reality is that during those years of lockdown we did see a real spike in tagging around the city and just a decline in general cleanliness,” he said. “It’s a real problem that we need to get on top of.”

A record $97 million has been allocated to cleaning and safety during the 2021-24 council term – double the amount spent in 2014-18 – but Reece said more must be done.

He wants to prioritise black spots around the city such the Swan Street bridge – a target for taggers that he says is filthy and looks awful.

“City safety will be of the highest priority to me, because I feel that everything else follows … if people don’t feel safe in the city, then it really does limit your ability to do a lot of the other great things you want to do around the city.

“The statistics are very clear: Melbourne is a safe city, but we can do better.”

Reece would not be drawn on how he would improve safety but said it would be a multipronged effort.

“There are some parts of the city which are currently completely unacceptable,” he said. “Elizabeth Street south is a good example of that. There’s some other pockets as well that we really need to target.”

He also wants to focus on making Melbourne greener and said Capp’s pet project – the landmark “Greenline” trail – would also be on his agenda.

“Our recent budget put in place a long-term funding plan for Greenline,” he said. “So the City of Melbourne now has a confident pathway forward for the delivery of that project. Greenline is happening.”

However, Reece did not have details of how Greenline – a four-kilometre linear park along the Yarra’s north bank – would be paid for, the project having been “rephased” in the budget and lacking funding from the state and federal governments.

When asked whether it could be funded out of the council’s future fund announced last week, he said the fund had strict parameters.

“[The project] will go through the usual budget processes that are held at town hall around budget-making, so in effect that will be a decision for future councils.”

Reece grew up in Ringwood in Melbourne’s outer east and started his career in politics working for previous premiers John Brumby and Steve Bracks. He was also a senior adviser to prime minister Julia Gillard.

Despite this Labor background, both times that Reece has run for council it has been as an independent.

“I personally feel that I can serve the city best by running and serving as an independent,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I’m not proud to have served a Labor prime minister of Australia and two Labor premiers.”

Reece was one of the founders of men’s charity Movember, which he says is “the first charity unicorn” raising $1.5 billion for men’s health, and he helped establish the Big Issue magazine – sold by people experiencing homelessness – in Australia.

He was deputy lord mayor from 2018 and held the role of planning lead – which he jokingly described as “how to lose friends and annoy people” – alongside working as director of enterprise strategy at the University of Melbourne.

Last year, Reece, his wife, Felicity Pantelidis – deputy chief executive of law firm Maurice Blackburn – and their three daughters moved to Carlton, which is within the City of Melbourne’s boundaries.

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