The naivety, or worse still, the desperation for power has clustered the independents Lyon, Clarke, and Swivel in a Faustian deal with the devil within. They are all preference flowing to the candidate who represents a major party that is still wedded to coal mining, fracking, and dabbles in the nuclear industry. It reminds me of the amoral attitudes in past state and federal elections throwing up a candidate with a miniscule primary vote not really known in the electorate and often with a misleading name.
Remember the ‘preference whisperer’ Glen Drury who made money out of stroking the egos of aspiring ‘minnows’ – it seems we have a similar situation. Has Mark Swivel swapped preferences with the ALP before his Independent fellow travellers? If so, it has the distinct odour of ALP head office tactics.
The Greens have preferenced for the community and environment, happily placing Cate Coorey’s team at the top of our list.
Only one of the three might make it to mayor, and their backstop is the ALP whose record, under Paul Spooner, has been development oriented. Preferencing the ALP before The Greens is a risk to the community, environment that they are collectively willing to take.
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. 
