Our view
NOMINATIONS have closed and the potential is there for the silly season to begin.
We have a healthy field of 21 starters for our local government election which, if we did not have a ward system, could see a strong vote for the shire’s top 10.
And if the number of councillors had been reduced, as it has been in many other local government areas, we might have been able to elect an even stronger standard of representation.
As it is, we still have five wards and 10 councillors. This means that the 10 who are elected are unlikely to reflect the 10 candidates who received the most votes.
On the positive side, there are at least three candidates in all five wards. All five wards will need to vote and no councillor will be elected without winning the vote in their ward.
Congratulations to those who put up their hands to have a go. We will be better off for having a choice in this election.
From the voter’s point of view, we are all now charged with a number of responsibilities. Firstly, we all need to find out what ward we are in.
Tenterfield has a complicated division of wards which segments the major population centre of the town of Tenterfield.
To find out which ward you are in, you can visit votensw.info and check under “Am I enrolled for these elections”. This site also includes other information about the September 8 elections.
Secondly, we need to look at who is running in our ward and what they stand for. Some candidates may be standing with a specific issue in mind, and others might want to run for a variety of reasons.
The Tenterfield Star will take a closer look at the candidates as the election date approaches.
If you are unhappy with the current representation at local government level, you need to make your vote count.
There is not a great deal of time left before election Saturday rolls around.
