Councillor Sue Cassidy has confirmed she will run for a second term on WarrnambooI council.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Cr Cassidy said two terms as a councillor would give her enough time to work towards the things she would like to achieve such as the completion of the Reid Oval re-development and advocating for The Lookout alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre.
Cr Cassidy said she also wanted to see as many projects as possible from the council's health and wellbeing plan implemented. She said that, along with the council's 2040 plan, would lead the council in the coming years.
Cr Cassidy said she had enjoyed the past four years and had learnt a lot. "I know that some in the community have not agreed with some of my decisions but, unfortunately, I cannot please everyone. I stand by my decisions," she said.
With COVID-19 not going away any time soon, Cr Cassidy said she wanted to make sure the council was sustainable and that might mean looking at other commercial areas.
"I have already started the conversation on how council can be sustainable. I will also continue to support as many businesses as possible as we try to get to the end of this pandemic," she said.
"We need to look at our affordable housing and our most vulnerable in our community to see what we, as a council, can do.
"No child should ever have to sleep in a car. Our next generation, like us, have the chance to be able to buy their own home. How can council help? Are there government schemes that can help with affordable living?"
Cr Cassidy said one of her major priorities was making sure the whole city was accessible to everyone with any disability.
"The next four years are going to be hard. We need to strongly advocate to the government for as many practical projects that we are wanting to achieve," she said.
Cr Cassidy also promised to keep advocating for Vic Roads to upgrade the Fitzroy Road, Raglan Parade and Botanic Road intersection before someone was seriously injured or killed.
She also wants to see the vegetation at McGennan's car park and along the boardwalk cut back to open up the views and for people's safety.
A new surface for the BMX track as well as a walking/riding track from Allansford to Deakin University to allow young people to safely get to McDonalds and Gateway Plaza were also on her priority list.
Cr Cassidy said she hoped a lot more people put their hand up for council.
"I have had a lot of people say to me they would like to run for council but that they will not because of the scrutiny of 'ill-informed keyboard warriors' on social media," she said.
Cr Cassidy said her advice would be not to read all the negativity because it wasn't healthy.
"When I first ran for council four years ago, I was naive to the point that I was going to change the way council is run," she said.
"As great as this intention was, unfortunately the reality is that it is totally different to what I thought.
"Understand that there are policies and procedures relating to proper governance to follow for all future candidates.
"Be prepared to be scrutinised and judged personally on all decisions made by council. Trust me - council is not as easy as some may think."
Cr Cassidy is one of 13 people to so far declare their intent to run. The others are: Otha Akoch, Robert Anderson, Debbie Arnott, Ben Blain, Jim Burke, Tom Campbell, Kylie Gaston, Vicki Jellie, Steve Moore, Mike Neoh, Angie Paspaliaris and Tracey Togni.
Read more:
Our COVID-19 news articles relating to public health and safety are free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.
