Candidates forum: showing their fitness to serve?
Last Thursday evening, August 22, I attended the Gosford West Ward candidates public forum, organised by the Peninsula Residents Association.
The forum enabled the registered candidates to put forward their respective cases for election as councillors in the upcoming council election.
I am a resident, rate paying, individual with no association or affiliation with any civic interest group and no specific pet interests of my own.
In my opinion, what was of critical importance was for the attendees to be able to consider each candidate for their fitness to serve as representatives of the people of the ward.
Principally, we will be asked to vote on the selection of three persons to represent the whole of the ward, as part of a larger team of 15 persons, serving as councillors to the whole of the Central Coast, not just the Woy Woy Peninsula.
My interests may have been in variance to the questions posed by the organisers, however it is hoped that we all were looking for the same capability, positive character and professional traits in the candidates responses.
It is also worth remembering that the successful candidates on election day will not acquire or carry any authority in council.
They will become advocates, advocates to the council staff and the constituents also, in an environment which may more be representative of a bear pit than a tea party.
I had seven questions, intended to help me assess the fitness to serve, of each candidate, in this role:
Do you understand the role and responsibilities of both councillor, and mayor, and are you sure you can work within them?
Do you have any interests which may affect your impartiality in office?
Do you possess the character traits required for the councillor role?
What formal business expertise do you possess?
What formal community experience do you possess?
What impediments to your time exist which may infringe your commitment to your role?
Are you team-orientated?
This is intended to be a report of what I saw, and got, from the evening, in order of each address.
Ratepayers' Choice: Mr Kevin Brooks and Mr Stephen Sizer were in attendance.
Kevin chose to selectively address the organisers' questions.
Kevin seemed to have a calm demeanour and presented his credentials from previous experiences which would seem to serve him well in this endeavour.
Stephen did not choose to address the floor.
Team Central Coast: Mr Daniel Abou-Chedid was solely in attendance.
Daniel chose not to address the organisers' questions, instead following his own line, akin to my own thoughts.
Daniel presented an impressive case of personal characteristics and did acknowledge the concerns of the attendees.
Liberal Party: Mr Trent McWaide was solely in attendance.
Trent initially seemed unprepared but took a similar line to Daniel and focused on his perceived qualification for the role.
As he proceeded, Trent warmed up in his presentation but was at length to tackle questions from the floor, preferring to reinforce his claim to be a team player.
Labor Party: Ms Belinda Neal, Mr Mark Ellis and Mr Alan McArdie were in attendance.
Belinda is an experienced politician.
Her past performance was reaffirmed here, and is a matter of public record.
Belinda led the presentation and was reassuring to the floor that she and her team were very tuned in to local issues.
Mark did not qualify his experience and also spoke in a mildly animated manner on numerous local community concerns.
Alan did not address the floor.
Coasties Who Care: Ms Lisa Bellamy, Ms Sarah Blakeway and Ms Tegan Mulqueeney were in attendance.
Lisa led the response and seemed to try to cover all of the organisers' queries along with her own self-promotion, in the allocated time.
Her resort to the use of bad language at the end of the presentation may have been simply emotional expression but may question her control under pressure.
Sarah introduced herself and Tegan did likewise. She seemed struck by the moment, admitting she was normally a "quiet person", a characteristic which may be out of place in the exercise of councillor duties.
New Independents: Ms Jane Smith, former Mayor, was the sole representative.
Jane, as a former Mayor, in office prior to the crisis, would seem to have her credibility already established.
Jane addressed the floor on a broad range of perceived issues and received strong support from the attendees.
No other grouped, or ungrouped candidates, presented on the night.
The allocated time for each group was a bit challenging and may have been influential on the approach and content of each presentation.
One issue which seemed to have universal support is the matter of agreement that the council needs to hold a councillor team of not less than 15 persons.
Polling booth locations, voting instructions and a draft voting form were on display for the interest of the attendees.
On the surface of it, the voting form would seem unnecessarily complicated, and targeted towards the "group" elective approach.
As the evening had an audience of 120+ persons in an understood voting population of more than 20,000, the question would seem to remain as to who to vote for and how much real interest is there anyway?
SOURCE:
Email, 29 Aug 2024
Darron Shaw, Ettalong Beach