Cr Paul Harmon was returned unopposed as mayor and Cr Anthony Michael was also returned unopposed as deputy-mayor - a repeat of the 2016 mayoral elections.

"It's great to know that my fellow councillors have confidence in my ability to carry out the role, represent them, and be the spokesperson for council," Cr Harmon said.

"I'm very honoured that they have faith and trust in me."

This will be the Harmon/Michael duo's ninth year leading Inverell Council and Cr Harmon's sixteenth year as a councillor.

"It seems like only yesterday," he said.

" I suppose it is the fact that I enjoy doing what I'm doing and I feel I still have something to give to the community.

"I'm enjoying my time and if it ever becomes not enjoyable and I feel I am not contributing then it's time to go."

Cr Harmon said there were two big ticket items he was keen to see through, which meant he was not ruling out running for the position again when this year's COVID deferred local council elections are held in September 2021.

"The next big projects I want to see happening are the Inverell Swimming Pool redevelopment and the completion of the CBD renewal," he said.

"In September next year there will be a whole new council elected and they will elect a mayor and deputy mayor. At this stage I don't see myself not running again in September 2021."

While there are a couple of new faces on Inverell Council most are long serving councillors - and that is not a bad thing according to Cr Harmon.

"It's good to have some continuity with a mix of current councillors and some new blood - it's like any business you don't want all new staff where things get lost in translation but you also want fresh ideas - it's good to get that balance," he said.

"There's a good balance of councillors now and we have a good working relationship across most of the councillors; projects are getting done; there's not in-fighting and; the councillors are generally there for the benefit of the whole community which is what makes our council stand out amongst other councils.

"It's apolitical - there is no party politics - it's all about making things better for our ratepayers."

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When asked his opinion on this week's call by the administrator of Armidale Regional Council for a public inquiry Cr Harmon appeared to have mixed feelings.

"The administrator obviously feels there needs to be some clean air for staff to cement themselves prior to new councillors coming in, but one of the dangers if you have an administrator for a long period of time is that people can feel disenchanted that they don't have that proper representation from a community aspect," he said.

"It's never a good look for local government when there has to be an inquiry into how the councillors operated during their term, but certainly I'm a believer that we need to have the best people representing the community who can do the best job and if they weren't, then there should be an inquiry to find out what went wrong and how things can work better in the future to make sure that those mistakes are not repeated.

"It is important for democracy that all ratepayers from all shires have the opportunity to be represented by people who they elected, and not someone who is imposed on them."