New council looks promising - maybe!

In ... Don Joyce, Bernard Young,
Justin Scholz

---

Out ... Irene Grant, Kerin Chambers, Keiren Klemm, Rob Chuck

Our new council looks promising. Gone are the major protagonists that caused the split in the last council and in their place we have three new councillors who offer a blend of experience, enthusiasm and community representation that should see a more homogenous council than we have had in the past.

While everyone was nervous about the proportional system of voting, it is worth noting that the seven candidates who scored the highest primary votes were ultimately elected to council. (Full results here}

At the declaration of the polls on Sunday, there were comments suggesting that with only one rural councillor, the rural community will be neglected. I see it differently.

Instead of having one local representative, we now have seven councillors representing every voter throughout the municipality. Residents with a problem, either urban and rural, should not rest with contacting just one councillor - they should contact all seven. If all of their representatives understand the issue, surely there is a higher chance of having it resolved.

We wait with baited breath to see if the personality conflicts of returned councillors rears its ugly head. When the new councillors were gathered for a photo shoot in the council chambers on Sunday, one of the media photographers arranged the group with Neville Wright and Rosi Parisotto facing each other at the front with the other councillors arranged in a semi-circle behind them. Am I being cynical in reading something into that?

In Monday's Chronicle, we read that Neville Wright will not be joining the contest for the mayoral position and that he will be supporting Robert Paino. Maybe he should reconsider. What better way could he possibly represent the rural voters.