Age: 47
Occupation: Sales person at Collier and Miller
Marital status: Married
Affiliation: Running on a ticket with Christine Stead
Standing for: Mayor and councillor
1. During your two terms at council you have been one of the less vocal councillors in and out of the chamber. Why should the people put their faith in you and elect you as their mayor?
Because I have got enough experience to know what has to be done. I say something when something has to be said, I don’t believe in repeating what someone has already said over and over. Being mayor is not an exact science, you need to have commonsense and be willing to work with and listen to the community.
2. Bearing in mind your laid back attitude and the photo on your Facebook campaign page where you’re dressed as a pimp, do you think you run the risk of losing credibility in the eyes of the electorate?
I think there is no doubt I take this very seriously. I think that people are smart enough to understand that I’m just putting a light-hearted spin on something that otherwise is very serious business. I believe being laid back and taking time before I act will work to my advantage. A laid back attitude should in no way be misunderstood for not caring.
3. Do you think your alliance with Allan Bennett, Dino Zappacosta and Christine Stead has helped or hindered you as a councillor?
I don’t see it as an alliance and talk of an alliance is more talk than anything else. You vote the way you think is best for the community and sometimes people agree with you and sometimes they don’t. You can only do what you think is right and take it from there.
4. How important do you think it is for candidates such as you who represent younger wage earners and families to have a voice on council?
It’s vital. There is a high population of farmers and small business owners in Griffith but it is still mostly made up of wage-earning families. In the past they haven’t had much representation on council and it’s easy for people to lose touch with the working class struggles of making ends meet, paying the bills and getting on with life. It’s important for someone like me to represent the average Joe. People are hurting out there and we’ve got to keep that in mind.
5. What have you achieved in your past two terms as a councillor?
I have worked with council on all the big projects – we have seen the private hospital finally come together, the new sewerage works and getting the airport terminal up and running. Personally I fought hard to get the 40km/h shared pedestrian zone – it took a lot of years to get across the line but it’s been a big positive. I’m always pushing to spend more money on roads – it’s what people want. You’ve got to keep it simple and don’t have to do anything fancy. If people want us to look after that then we should be doing that. The people I talk to never say we need another liaison officer or cultural officer, they’re asking us to fix and grade their roads.