Michael Lyon, Sarah Ndiaye, Asren Pugh or David Warth: who will win your vote for Byron Shire Mayor next month?
There are 24 candidates vying for nine Byron Shire Council seats, including four candidates running for mayor.
***If you’d like to see the Byron Shire Council candidates answer questions in person, The Echo and BayFM are hosting a Meet the Candidates event at Byron Theatre 6pm-8pm on Monday 2 September. Admission is free, you can turn up on the night or register to attend here. See the Byron Shire Echo’s Byron LGA coverage here. For more details of the Meet the Candidates event see here ***
The stipend for councillors serving in NSW is notoriously low compared to some other states, such as QLD, but the mayor is renumerated at roughly double the rate of ordinary councillors.
The mayor is also expected to carry out more public duties and has the power of a casting vote when councillors are otherwise tied in a vote, as can happen if one or more councillors is missing from a vote.
Mayor Lyon had to use his casting vote earlier this month on the controversial matter of Mullumbimby’s future water supply when Independent Cr Sama Balson was absent and councillors tied.
Mayors generally use casting votes to double their own vote but there have been cases of mayors using them to vote against themselves, citing respect for how a missing councillor would have voted.
Five groups and one ungrouped candidate
Nominated groups number their candidates for registration purposes and in how-to-vote campaign material but voters have the option of preferential voting and the power to do their own numbering.
The other 20 Byron Shire Council candidates are divided between five groups, except for one ungrouped candidate, Lucy Vader.
Yes, that’s right: there is a fifth group running for ordinary council seats, led by Independent Jack Dods.
The incumbent mayor has four in his group, as does Mr Warth.
The Greens have five, while Labor has six, meaning if either group wins enough ‘Vote 1’s, or enough top preferences for all group members, that group could effectively form a voting majority on the council.
Byron’s blurry bubble
Of course, group members don’t necessarily vote in alignment on every agenda item, and outgoing conservative Cr Alan Hunter, who isn’t running again, says he didn’t see a lot of group-aligned voting in the most recent term.
One would have to go back through two and a half years of council voting to fact-check.
Conversely, groups or group members may sometimes form alliances outside group lines, or even switch allegiances during a council term.
In the leadup to the 2021 election, four of the groups running declared an alliance called ‘United Front’, including Labor and groups running under Cr Lyon and Cr Swivel, who instigated the move.
It isn’t uncommon for councillors to quit political parties in favour of running as an independent.
Cr Hunter recently shared with Bay FM Community Newsroom listeners the true story of former Greens Byron Shire Cr Rose Wanchap defecting from her party’s group of five that had won seats in favour of the four serving conservative councillors, dramatically changing the force of the council at the time.
So far, none of the 2024 candidates has declared themselves conservative, but Cr Hunter says people might ‘get a surprise’ when they realise some of the more conservative views shared by candidates on some tickets.
Pitch your question
Once again, your local independent media, Bay FM 99.9 and The Echo, have joined forces to host Byron Shire: Meet the Candidates, on 2nd September in the Byron Theatre from 6pm.
This free, live-broadcast event is a chance for you to hear from each mayoral candidate and group leader as they introduce themselves and answer questions from the public.
The shire’s only ungrouped candidate is also invited to join the on-stage panel.
Alll 24 candidates are invited to meet and greet members of the community before and after the live broadcast.
Please email [email protected] with your full name, which town or village you live in within the Byron Shire, and the group or interest you represent, if you would like a chance to ask a question live – no guarantees, as time is limited and a diversity of topics related to local government is to feature. Please include a mobile number.
Free tickets available via Humanatix.
Bay FM Community Newsroom host Mia Armitage is to moderate the evening.
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. 
