At 12pm this Tuesday nominations closed for the upcoming Local Government Election and it was formally confirmed that four Mayoral Candidates have registered and two Councillor positions are opposed by a total four Councillor Candidates.
Richard Evans, Ry Collins, Peter Hood and Phil Batty have all announced their Mayoral candidacy.
Meanwhile the Division 2 seat, which encompasses Cannonvale, Cannon Valley and Woodwark, is contested with Councillor Clay Bauman the only seated candidate to be challenged by newly announced opponent, Tony Price.
The other seat up for grabs is Division 6 which includes the township of Bowen.
Previous Councillor of Division 6, Mike Brunker, announced his retirement last week and now John Finlay and David Paddon have stepped forward to vie for the newly vacated position.
The remaining seats are unopposed and current Councillors will continue with the new term.
Jan Clifford will remain Councillor of Division 1 which encompasses Jubilee Pocket, Mandalay, Flametree, Airlie Beach, and parts of Cannonvale.
John Collins will remain Councillor of Division 3 which is primarily Proserpine, extending to include Lake Proserpine, Andromache, Conway and Wilson Beach and Lethebrook.
Michelle Wright will remain Councillor of Division 4 which extends further inland, with Bogie, Collinsville and Scottville, Mount Coolan, and Gumlu.
Gary Simpson will remain Councillor of Division 5 which encompasses the localities of Cape Gloucester, Gregory River, Riordanvale, Sugarloaf, and the regional outskirts of Bowen.
The local government election is due to take place on March 16 and with three positions open for public vote, the campaign race is expected to heat up in the coming weeks.
To kick things off, have introduced a Meet the Candidates feature this week and asked each person the following questions:
1. Who are you and what do you think qualifies you for the role?
2. If you could initiate a project or address one issue in the region – what would it be and how you would go about it?
3. What do you think the people most want now and how would you give it to them?
4. Tell us what your first 100 days would look like if you were successful in your election bid?
