Lobby group pressures

THIS election cycle has the topic of the day being “Transparency and Accountability”. Being a candidate for the upcoming council election has been enlightening, especially with the number of pledge/promises/guarantees of action I have been asked to take. Nearly all of the emails are from single issue groups asking for the exclusive promotion of “their agenda”.

None of these emails were solicited by me but arrived “out of the blue”. I can only assume that the other candidates have been similarly “bombarded”. This leads me to think about how other candidates deal with such lobbying to “pledge” and how they may behave if elected.

Will they be transparent and accountable for any pledges they felt pressured to make?

It seems to me the ideal councillor is one who prioritises community needs over political agenda and ideology.

In listening to elements of the community, I have so far heard the following.

• Building our community with progress on the sports complex and commonsense capital works

• Preserving our community with a maintenance strategy for our shoreline and road and footpath assets

• Improving our community with a Phillip Island parking strategy and a holiday period Waste Management Plan

If elected to council, I will advocate for the above.

Darrell Silva, Candidate for Island Ward