Council Elections – Call for Nominations

Council Election

The Central Coast Council Election will be held on Saturday, 9 September. The amalgamation and ward system that have been imposed on us will make this a crucial election. The outcome will have a long term impact on the future development of the Central Coast and our beautiful physical environment.

All members of the Central Coast Greens can make a positive difference by contributing in whatever ways we can (large and small!) to the coming campaign. We want to ensure our best chance of having Green candidates elected to the new Council.

Call for Candidate Nominations

The Central Coast Greens have decided to field candidates in all 5 wards: Budgewoi, Wyong, The Entrance, East Gosford and West Gosford.

We are seeking one lead candidate willing to be visible plus two support candidates per ward.

Requirements: Greens membership for the past 12 months.

Lead Candidates need to demonstrate a good understanding of Greens principles, though not detailed knowledge of policies, and local issues. Nominees need to indicate their preferred ward and whether they wish to be a lead or supporting candidate.

If you would like to nominate, please send a short profile and photo to Janene at secretary@centralcoast.nsw.greens.org.au by 23 May 2017.

Call for Council Election Campaign Committee Members

There are numerous roles to be filled for any election campaign and the more people willing to help, the more evenly the load is spread. It is a good opportunity to learn new skills and to get to know other members.

Campaign Committee membership involves being available for some face to face meetings and some email discussions in addition to the task you take on. If you are new to this, you might like to consider “apprenticing” yourself in a role that interests you.

If you would like to be on the election campaign committee, please email Janene at secretary@centralcoast.nsw.greens.org.au.

The first meeting of the Council Election Campaign Committee is proposed for Thursday 25th May (7 pm) to decide on roles and chart a timeline for the campaign. Venue to be advised.

There are various roles including:

  • Campaign Coordinator(s)
  • Volunteer Coordinator(s)
  • Materials Coordinator(s)
  • Publicity and Media Coordinator(s)
  • Booth Bag Coordinator(s)
  • Financial Manager
  • Door-Knocking Team Coordinator
  • Data Processor
  • Events Coordinator.

All members of the campaign committee have direct input into the campaign structure and execution.

If you would like further details of any of these roles, please contact Ruth Herman on 0434 254 291.

Reviews

By way of review of our previous discussions, I am including here a summary of issues identified during our Council Campaign Strategy meeting in January.

  • We agreed to run candidates in all wards, to focus most of our energy in the wards we have the best chance of election, and to have a single campaign committee covering all 5 wards.  We decided we wanted to run a positive campaign which raises the profile of the Greens on the coast.
  • We agreed that we would campaign under the theme: Working towards sustainable, economically viable, healthy and liveable communities.

We identified what makes for liveable communities which resulted in several sub-themes.

  • Good governance: Transparent, accountable and consultative (democratic) Council decision-making which is responsive to local concerns (eg precinct level).
  • Infrastructure: affordable housing, accessible public transport, bike paths, parks, playgrounds, reserves, open space, sporting and art/culture facilities.
  • Environment: Value natural environment, maintain COSS, ensure water quality and security, effective waste management, planning for climate change impacts, management of flooding and drainage.
  • Coordination of and support for accessible community services.
  • Promotion of local small business, encourage clean new industry and start-ups.

It is noted that there was additional discussion during the by-election campaign with a view to messaging on corflutes that could be carried over to the Council campaign. The messages chosen were for specific issues/items:

  • Affordable childcare
  • Amazing playgrounds
  • Shorter commute time
  • Gosford University campus
  • Community Power Company.

Other Relevant Issues

Community Plan Group

The Community Plan group are a collection of progressive thinkers on the Central Coast who object to the State Government having presented us with a Plan for the Central Coast, written by bureaucrats in Sydney with no consultation with local people. This group (which has included input and representation from the Central Coast Greens) has been meeting to produce a “people’s” community plan which is now in its draft form.  See http://centralcoast.communityplan.com.au or Facebook CommunityPlanCentralCoast.

The plan has 18 policy areas which fit well, for the most part, with Greens values and policies.

The Community Group plan to run a progressive ticket for the Council election where the candidates testify publicly to the shared importance of these values and commit to following the plan in office. Their goal is to have a majority of progressives elected to Council.

We will need to decide whether and in what ways we wish to cooperate with this group as part of our election planning.