Bendigo Council Mayoral Election 2020
Posted on November 17, 2020
Part of my intent in keeping my campaign website going is to discuss issues in our city, but also to inform residents about the democratic processes of your council. This time: the mayoral elections. I’ll look at my principles for how I will decide who I will be voting for, a few interesting details about the process, and how voting works.
This week, your elected councillors will be electing one of our number to be Mayor, and another to be Deputy Mayor. Currently, there are 4 councillors who have said they will nominate for the position of Mayor: Cr Alden, Cr Metcalf, Cr O’Rourke and Cr Fyffe, who all served as councillors. You can read a little about the position of mayor here, however essentially their role is to chair all council meetings, be the principal spokesperson for the council, and the public face of Greater Bendigo. They have no more power around the council table than the other councillors, though in cases where there is a tied vote, they have a casting vote to break the tie.
Given the ballot is secret, I will not be revealing who I vote for, either now or later. However, here are some criteria I will be using to decide my vote:
- Do they have a comprehensive understanding of the wide range of needs of our municipality?
- Do they display the qualities necessary to chair productive meetings of council? Things like: collaboration, being an excellent listener, fairness, independence.
- Do I think they can maintain a positive and fruitful, yet independent, relationship with the CEO?
- Do I think I can work with them productively to make progress on the priorities I campaigned on, for the good of Whipstick Ward and the whole municipality?
- Do I think they understand the particular challenges Bendigo faces right now?
- Would I happy for our city to be represented by them in all kinds of settings? For example civic and ceremonial gatherings, regional meetings, political settings etc.
When I look at the current prospective candidates, there are no red flashing lights according to these criteria. I will making an “on balance” decision about who I think best meets these criteria. I have also spoken to a number of community members to get their view, not on who would make the best mayor, but on what qualities and skills they believe are crucial for Bendigo’s mayor at this point in our history.
A few things about the process:
- Councillors have already had a conversation about the mayoral term, as it is possible for us to elect a Mayor for a 2 year term. We have decided a 1 year term is appropriate.
- Council does not have to elect a Deputy Mayor, but we have decided that we will elect one. This will also be for a 1 year term.
- Although the official election is on this Thursday night, a provisional decision is usually made at an informal meeting of council earlier in the week. Councillors will hear presentations from each of the candidates and we will ask them questions to help us decide how to vote.
- Then, on this Thursday night, the official election takes place. Usually, the Mayor-elect is the only nominee and so takes their place. However, it is possible for another councillor or councillors to nominate on Thursday night, in which case a vote will be held. This is extremely rare.
So how does the voting work at the informal meeting?
- A candidate must get 5 votes to become the Mayor-elect.
- The voting is by secret ballot
- Councillors write their choice of candidate on individual pieces of paper
- In the first round of voting, if no candidate gets 5 votes, the candidate with the least votes is cut from the race, and then another round of voting takes place. This continues until 1 candidate has 5 votes. Hence, it is possible to vote for 1 candidate in the first round, and then others in subsequent rounds.
Installation Speech
Posted on November 13, 2020
On the evening of Tuesday 10th November, the council of Greater Bendigo was installed. This was the short speech I gave.
First, I thank my family and friends and all those who contributed to my campaign, especially my wife Kylie, who encouraged me into standing for council. It is no small thing to be a local councillor, and I am grateful and a little overwhelmed by the support I have received.
Second, I hope that the coming term of this council will be characterised by a healthy democratic spirit, formed by democratic habits like:
- collaboration
- respectful disagreement
- leadership as servanthood
- listening closely to those we serve
- principled decision making
- robust compromise
- receiving loss graciously
I first learnt these habits in sporting pursuits and debating teams. And they were strengthened around the dinner table of my large and noisy family, through being given leadership responsibility in my childhood church, and seeing my parents and extended family involved in the civic world.
So I encourage all those in our wider community to get involved in our local democracy.
That doesn’t have to mean running for public office, but it does mean getting involved with others for the good of our city in small and large ways. Join a committee or club, write a letter, meet your local representatives, talk to your neighbours about local issues, get on the school council. Don’t leave our democracy to the professionals, or just those people who get elected.
Finally, I look forward to representing the Whipstick Ward and working for the good of the whole of Bendigo, and hope that I can honour the trust that the people of Bendigo have placed in me. Thank you.
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If you would like to watch the video of this ceremony, the link is here.
Remembering those doing it tough
Posted on October 15, 2020
Bendigo sees itself as a “go-ahead” kind of town, with an entrepreneurial spirit born of the gold rush. You can see this in the shared workspaces, the dozens of cafes, mushrooming housing developments, and the “only in Bendigo” art gallery exhibitions. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this focus on success. However, it can create a blind spot.
This week, which happens to be Anti-Poverty Week in Australia, we need to remember those who are not “succeeding” – those who are existing on the knife edge of survival. We tuck them away where we can’t see them. We forget them if we can. But if you take the time to talk to any of the leaders of welfare agencies in this town, you’ll see that there is a larger than expected number of people who are struggling with homelessness, unemployment (especially amongst young people), mental health, having enough food and money to get through the week, as well as children in foster-care.
As a former high school teacher and current community worker in some of Bendigo’s economically disenfranchised areas, I can personally attest to these realities.
Is there anything that council can do? Or is this one of those areas that must be tackled by state and federal governments? Certainly, there are some actions that can only be taken by higher levels of government, such as raising the Jobseeker rate or supplying more public housing.
But councils can, and must, do something about poverty. Here are a few ideas – feel free to share yours:
- Continue to support Bendigo Foodshare as they supply emergency food relief to dozens of agencies across the region. In particular, help them to locate a larger long-term facility.
- Explore how to change our planning scheme so that new housing developments include higher percentages of social and affordable housing.
- Provide outreach versions of council services into neighbourhoods that are facing poverty.
- Partially fund youth workers in neighbourhood centres in areas that are facing poverty.
- Ensure that health care card holders and pensioners receive discounts on all fees, rates, registrations, and other levies.
- Play a co-ordinating role amongst agencies to ensure they are all pulling together, advocating on issues on concern, sharing information, and not unnecessarily duplicating services.
You might also be interested in this Facebook interview with Ken Marchingo, head of Haven Home Safe, where we talk about housing in Bendigo.
(Image credit: “Homeless” by Thomas Benjamin Kennington, Bendigo Art Gallery)
Conserving our Natural Heritage – What is Council’s Role?
Posted on October 5, 2020
What role should council play in environmental action? Some say that council, being a very small player in the global scene, should not try to achieve environmental goals such as carbon emission reductions. Or, that council should simply focus on “basics” like roads, rates and rubbish.
However, I believe that we need to be stewards of the land on which we live. We have a responsibility to care for it, reduce our harm to it, and repair it where we can. Doing so will not only be good for the land, but also for our own health and wellbeing.
Here are some practical ideas:
- Ensure that council assets are using renewable design and energy.
- Rehabilitating our natural heritage. For example, the Bendigo Creek is currently undergoing work of this kind – I support this. I would also support the rehabilitation of former mining land, like Victoria Hill, especially given the proposals to make the Victorian Goldfields a UNESCO heritage site.
- Implementing “circular economy” solutions for waste. This involves supporting industries that take products at the end of their life, and converts them into usable materials for other products. This prevents these products from going into landfill.
- Increasing dramatically the net amount of trees in the municipality. We do plant thousands of trees each year but many are also lost (due to age or construction). Having a green Bendigo will cool our city and make it a lovely place to live.
What are your ideas for taking care of our natural heritage?
