We asked each Lord Mayoral candidate to respond on behalf of their team to three questions raised by our readers. One non-aligned independent candidate standing for councillor was also given the opportunity to respond.
For the first time it is compulsory for business and property owners within the City of Sydney to vote. A total of 22,972 non-residential voters were verified by the NSW Electoral Commission as eligible to vote at the 2016 City of Sydney election.
PROGRESS — What do you and your team want the Council to achieve in the coming term and what programs and services need to be reassessed?
We have a positive agenda of bringing stakeholders together to find solutions and get Sydney humming again. Conversely, Clover Moore has become increasingly focused on a few pet projects to the exclusion of issues which can make a big impact on people’s lives.
We want doing business with Council to be easy so we will minimise unnecessary red tape, improve turnaround times on development applications and modernise Council processes.
We want a green city, so instead of wasting money on grand schemes like trigeneration, we will incentivise residents to install solar panels and rainwater tanks and implement a bicycle hire scheme to address our underutilised bike paths.
We will cut back on Clover’s over-the-top $18 million public art program and instead redirect millions of rate payer dollars to more organic, grassroots initiatives that will create a more vibrant and inclusive Sydney art culture.
- COMMUNITY INPUT — How do you propose to ensure broad community input into Council’s planning, programs and service provision?
One of our key policies is to establish Community Forums to empower village communities to champion grassroots improvements and solutions. The best ideas come from the people who understand the drivers behind their opportunities and challenges.
We will install regular Council “listening posts” at all the City’s local markets. We want to be in constant contact with people who have a suggestion or a comment to allow us to keep improving our service to the community.
We have also announced the formation of a Small Business Advisory Council to ensure our SMEs have a voice, as well as a Chinatown Leadership Forum to listen to a community that is feeling unheard.
- ADVOCACY — Given that the decisions of the state government will have big impacts on local communities in the City of Sydney, what issues and role do you see Council playing in advocating for the inner-city community?
Clover Moore’s adversarial stance continues to cause more harm than good. For example, Council is in an excellent position to work on alternative measures to keep the city safe while restoring its night-time economy. I have put the case to the State Government on winding back lock-out laws and these are now under review. Clover was not invited to the negotiating table.
Homelessness is not just a Council issue but a State one as well. I have proposed a City of Sydney Homelessness Prevention & Solution Forum that will bring together government agencies, community and not-for-profit service providers to ensure we focus on providing effective assistance.
Maximising positive outcomes on infrastructure projects is also important to me. But the time to consult is when they are in planning – Clover has missed the opportunity to be involved in WestConnex impact mitigation early on and now prefers to posture and divide our community.
