Two decades after he first arrived in Griffith - Manjit Singh Lally is looking to take his next step as a member of Griffith's community.
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Mr Lally will be putting himself forward as a candidate for Griffith City Council in September's election.
A familiar face to many, Mr Lally is one of the owners of News and Gifts on Banna Avenue, Griffin Plaza Newsagency and Yenda Foodworks.
His first job in Griffith was working with Australian Frozen Foods and then Casellas before buying the Yenda supermarket in 2014.
If elected to council, one of his is to help bring the many members of the city's diverse community into the fold to engage with where Griffith is heading into the future.
"For 20 years I've been a resident of Griffith. I have two boys who are born and bred in Griffith," Mr Lally said.
"I've seen lots of changes, but we need more."
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Delivering broader cultural representation is one of the drivers behind Mr Lally's candidacy.
"There's 70 different cultures in Griffith, and the Sikhs are the second-largest cultural community in Griffith," he said.
"As a new resident to Griffith, I understand the challenges to become an active community member and I want to help make it easier for our diverse cultural groups to come forward and engage with the broader community."
Mr Lally said Griffith had a lot to offer new residents and new residents had a lot to offer for the existing community.
Mr Lally has been a long-term member of the Gurdwara Singh Saba Society management committee and has been involved in the Griffith Sikh Games either as a volunteer or committee member every year since he arrived in 2000.
Mr Lally said the way council deals with businesses, especially small businesses as the backbone of the local economy, needed to be improved.
"As our population grows, we need to look at facilities that are available and ensure sure people have secure accommodation," he said.
Mr Lally said he was working on a group to run in the election, and was speaking to a number of community groups with the aim of creating a group as diverse as Griffith itself.
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