Duncan Dey, Greens candidate
In Byron Shire there will be two local-government elections on September 8: one for eight councillors and a separate election for a ninth councillor, called mayor. Spreading our vote over eight positions allows for roughly proportional representation – candidates need about one-eighth of the vote to get elected. It’s quite democratic.
For mayor it’s a presidential-style ‘winner-takes-all’ election. The mayoral result affects the councillor one. If the elected mayor is also standing on a councillor ticket, they are removed from it and votes for them pass down to their number-two candidate. Four of the mayoral candidates are also top candidate on a councillor ticket for September 8. Hence, for example, if we elect Woods for mayor, we’ll likely see Cubis on council and possibly Hunter. If we elect Cameron, we’ll get Hart and maybe Arrowsmith.
I hope we elect Richardson for mayor. This will likely put Rose Wanchap on council and maybe me as well (number 3 on the Greens ticket). Vote Green in both elections, please.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
