Cr Murrihy said an lifelong involvement in community sport and more than two decades of policing in Melbourne and Geelong had given him a good grounding.

"It's the people. I just love it," Cr Murrihy said. "I just understand how the community works."

Cr Murrihy was unanimously elected at a special meeting at Geelong's City Hall, following former mayor Stephanie Asher's resignation. He'll serve in the role until the scheduled November council elections.

"I accept the challenge," he said. "It's a huge honour. It's a little bit of a feather in my cap but now that I've got it there's plenty of work to be done."

The Newtown resident joined council in 2017, serving as deputy mayor until 2019, and said his interest and ambition to become mayor had slowly grown over the past five years.

"I never looked at it and thought 'it'd be good to be on council'," he said. "I had a knock on the door one day and someone said 'why don't you run for council?' and I thought 'that's not a bad idea. I'll give it a crack' and got on and enjoyed the role. It's been a good ride."

Cr Murrihy was working at a Warrnambool bank branch in 1980 when he was transferred to Geelong.

"I've been here ever since but I still call Port Fairy home," he said.

The Geelong Racing Club president enjoys visiting his mum Marj and siblings Shaun and Catherine in Port Fairy and his two sisters Leanne and Maria in Warrnambool, and their families.

He said his wife Victoria was a "big supporter" as were his adult daughters Brydie, Keeley and Layla who he credited for some of his varied community sport involvement over the years.

"My interest in it (becoming mayor) grew and I thought 'I could do a pretty good job at this. It finished up as a role that I did really want. I think the longer you're in it you think 'I could have a crack at this and do a good job."

He's looking forward to forming relationships with local state government MPs and other stakeholders to ensure "we're all pulling in the one direction with a common goal and doing what's best for Geelong".

He said while the growth of Geelong was positive, it was also a challenge to meet the increased demand.

"One of our biggest challenges is the growth is great but the infrastructure has to keep up - the transport, the sporting fields that's a big challenge. There's some statistics that say we're the fastest growing region in Australia and if we're not number one we'd be in the top three."

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