There’s something about Mandy! You either love her or hate her. She is incredibly polarising in our community.
On the love-her side, there are hundreds of people Mandy has helped make massive breakthroughs in confidence, self-expression, and self-esteem by participating in her comedy courses. There are thousands of people she has brought to tears of laughter with decades of comedy gigs. As well as the many Echo readers that bear a Mandy-induced smile each week owing to some amusing insight in her column.
Over on the hate-her side, there are loads of people that absolutely despise her. They deride her as crazy, pro-vax, man-hating, man-loving, not funny and all manner of other slurs I choose not to include in this letter.
Now that she’s running for The Greens, the polarisation couldn’t be more apparent.
A disclaimer: I love Mandy, we are friends, I have done several of her courses. I think she’s funny and intelligent. But on politics, we differ. Given that she is a comedian, Mandy is not someone I would initially choose to represent me or this community when it comes to something serious like politics. But in this instance, it’s a no-brainer.
You see, we have a unique opportunity to have our Richmond representative be someone who actually lives where we live in Mullumbimby. Mandy doesn’t live in Ballina or Tweed Heads or Byron Bay – none of the big centres. She lives right here in Mullumbimby, right in the heart of Richmond.
Her family is here, her community is here, her interests are here. Finally, we could have someone that understands our community’s wants and needs and is able to take them to a federal platform.
And they will listen. Why? Because they’ll have to.
Mandy, a big woman with a big mouth will be using the full weight of her words to have our message heard.
She won’t tolerate deaf dickheads saying stupid shit at her; she’s had to deal with hecklers her whole career. She knows how to communicate effectively; she’s maintained a weekly column longer than most of us have held jobs. Most importantly, she’s fearless and will go for the jugular. That’s why I am voting Mandy for Richmond.
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. 
