WITH less than a month to go until the Orange City Council election many of the candidates are taking any and every opportunity to grab their share of the limelight.
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And who can blame them: with a record field of 88 council candidates – 10 of whom have also put their hands up to sit in the mayor’s seat – it’s going to take a loud voice and the occasional scream to be heard over the movements of the pack.
Because of this political reality, much of what we will hear is not necessarily the kind of information required to make an informed decision in the ballot booth come September 9.
20th Century businessman Bernard Baruch said “vote for the man who promises least: he’ll be the least disappointing”.
Outside of his exclusion of the 38 women who have put their hands up to serve Orange, Mr Baruch’s assertion is a wise one.
Election promises, at all levels of politics, are as flimsy as they are easy to make. Most pledges don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of ever being realised, primarily because elected politicians find it so easy to divorce themselves of policies they so strongly advocated while on the campaign trail.
But, in an effort to make this council election the exception, the Central Western Daily has invited all 88 general council candidates to complete issue profiles.
One candidate, Lynn Bocking, has already submitted hers, and 15 to 20 more are in the process of completing theirs. We have high hopes that the vast majority of the field will do likewise in the coming weeks.
The profiles go beyond basic, biographical information. They demand detailed thoughts about Orange-specific issues, like the Northern Distributor Roads, residential and business rates, re-zoning at the airport, Summer Street business prosperity and many others.
The answers will take pride of place on our website, putting the candidates’ thoughts and beliefs about the issues that matter most to the voters at the front and centre of this campaign.
You – the voters – will be able to use this information to make your vote count, to make sure that the candidate who gets your vote represents your hopes for Orange’s future.
And, in the months and years ahead, we’ll all know who among our councillors is good at keeping promises … and who’s just good at making them.