WILLOUGHBY: Rachel Hill has succeeded in winning the vacant Sailors Bay ward seat on Willoughby Council, with Armenian-Australian community leader, Vache Kahramanian finishing second and Rob Manning third.

Kahramanian ran a very strong grassroots campaign, introducing himself to the people of Willoughby, his lifelong hometown. He attracted close to 2,000 votes on polling day, but it wasn't enough to defeat Hill, who polled particularly strongly in her home suburb of Northbridge.

Kahramanian released the following message to his friends and supporters:

Dear Friends,

I would firstly like to congratulate Rachel Hill on her election as councillor to Willoughby City Council for the Sailors Bay Ward.

I want to thank all those who put in an amazing effort to support my campaign and especially to all those who assisted on Election Day.

I also want to thank Rob Manning for his efforts in running as a candidate.

As a lifelong resident of Willoughby I look forward to working with our newly elected councillor on many important issues which currently face our city.

Best regards,
Vache