How’s the election campaigning going for December 4?
As a voter of considerable intellect and breathlessly appealing good looks, are you wanting to enter and exit the election booth as quickly as you can?
Some people are reluctant to use their democratic rights to make a positive difference.
To them, election booths are like a stinky loo at a five day outdoor festival in the rainy season. On the fifth day.
Yet we all still need to use the facility. And flush.
Do you, as a voter, feel like the people presenting themselves as mayoral/councillor candidates have the best handle on what you would like to see in local government?
Who demonstrates a willingness to listen, learn and reflect, not just to the cohort they represent, but to all of us?
Who are the humble vessels, yearning for a chance to give back to their community? And who are the ambitious rent seekers hoping to use this as leverage to further their career beyond local government?
Planning reform in Byron Shire has been conspicuously absent in the last five years of Council, and remarkably has also been conspicuously absent from councillor candidate platforms in this Council election campaign – so far.
The reason, presumably, is that it is not a sexy topic.
They would prefer to talk about brightly coloured shiny sustainable objects like solar farms or bioenergy plants.
And besides, current councillors seeking re-election can hardly say they have done a great job in maintainting Byron CBD height limits, for example.
Affordable housing, however, has been one campaign pledge. While it’s a catchy slogan, actually providing it in any meaningful way – at scale – will be perhaps the hardest promise to deliver.
Planning is perhaps the most important work of Council.
That, and governance, which includes the relationship councillors have with Council staff.
That relationship, as we have seen in the last five years, can sometimes have no bearing on what the community expects.
When councillors spend too long in closed meetings with staff, they start to drift away from the community that elected them.
And that is why, dear voter, elections are so damn important!
Full candidate replies to Echo questions on page 5 are available online at The Echo online Byron elections page.
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