When I look at each of the candidates of Brownbill on the ballot card, I see them through a number of “filters”, such as:

• Will the candidate be dedicated to implementing and embedding the 30-year ‘Clever and Creative Future’ vision in everything Council does?
Yes? No? Only maybe?
I recommend you #Vote1ForOurFuture
If you live in Brownbill Ward, then that translates to voting for Peter Mitchell and for me. But remember that ALL boxes are to be numbered.

• Is the candidate a woman?
I think we must aspire to vote in a Council which consists of at least five women, and for that to happen, we need to give women candidates extra preference.

• Is the candidate a young person?
I believe we need the youth better represented in Council. The way things are going in politics, and in particular energy politics, the future safety and well-being of the youth is being ignored.

• Is the candidate running for a political party, a developer or other vested interests?
I think we need to vote in a Council that represents us, the citizens, and for that to happen we need people in Council who will listen to us and speak for us, and not only act according to the interest of some specific non-Geelong group.

• Will this candidate represent our city well?
This is a very personal filter – it boils down to: do I trust this person? Is he/she able to communicate well?

• Is this candidate standing for the community – or to boost his/her ego?
Can we expect this person to be listening to and be approachable for the community and be constructively collaborating with the other councillors, or more likely to be going for a all-or-nothing-style solo ride? Is he/she part of that bullying culture that got the previous Council sacked?

And remember: You influence the election by who you put first, but also by who you put last.

“Depending on how things go, who you put 17th vs 18th could decide who gets in.”
~ Mitchell Dye

Scorecard
I highly recommend you take a look at Geelong Sustainability’s scorecard to learn more about the candidates.

And listen to what each of 12 Brownbill candidates had to say in Mitchell’s Frontpage on 94.7 The Pulse

» More guides and surveys are listed here

Beyond that, I don’t think I should be guiding anyone how to vote.

I agree with Stephanie Asher​, candidate in Bellerine Ward, who put it this way: “I think people are smart enough to work out who they trust to do an effective job in council. If you want guidance on who to vote for, I suggest asking the candidates a few questions – everyone has provided contact details so don’t be shy! www.vec.vic.gov.au/GeelongElection/Candidates – Put the people in the order you think, with the best at the top.”

Need to think bigger
Local politics can’t be about individual aspirations or divisive party politics – we need to think bigger, and we have to collaborate to create the sort of change which is necessary in OUR city now, as well as for our future.

Australia would be a different place if politicians made their decisions based on what the majority of people in their electorate think about specific issues instead of ‘the party line’.

Last night I explained how I feel about ‘How-to-vote’ cards to BayFM:

The political party tradition of putting each other on a preference ranking list is not constructive for the process of creating trust and mutual respect between one another as future local government councillors. In my opinion, the ‘How-to-vote’ cards are a first step towards creating a divide between potential Councillors before we even get into Council. Our joint task today is to form a Council where we can collaborate across our differences, which means I have no plans for preferences. The public should decide which people to vote for and not be influenced by party politics. Geelong should be governed by Geelong.

We need united leadership in City of Greater Geelong​ – and we need to think and act local while broadening our global outlook at the same time.

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