Geraldton councillor Peter Fiorenza steps down amid health concerns

City of Greater Geraldton councillor Peter Fiorenza has resigned from the council halfway through his four-year term citing health concerns, triggering an extraordinary election for the vacant seat.

Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said Mr Fiorenza officially resigned on Monday after the pair held discussions about his future.

Mr Van Styn said it was mutually decided the best course of action was to reduce Mr Fiorenza’s workload because of his health.

The Nagle Catholic College teacher was first elected to the Champion Bay ward in 2011 before narrowly losing his seat to Graeme Bylund in 2015.

Mr Fiorenza also presents for Radio MAMA on Sundays and writes an opinion column for the Guardian.

He successfully ran for a second stint on the council in 2019, securing just over 11 per cent of the general vote.

The teacher’s four-year term was due to expire in October 2023.

His seat will remain vacant until the City holds an extraordinary election, which would likely be around March, according to Mr Van Styn.

Mr Van Styn encouraged unsuccessful candidates from this year’s local government election to throw their hats in the ring again for a two-year term.

Social worker Ron Bertelsen had the highest number of votes of all the unsuccessful candidates at the October 16 ballot, attracting 6.24 per cent of the count, followed by Derek Goforth (5.9 per cent), Zain Laudehr (5.74 per cent), Eva Svanberg (5.71 per cent), Mal Kelly (4.88 per cent) and Peter Morton (4.27 per cent).