By Mitchell Clarke
An outgoing Cardinia Shire councillor has warned candidates of a “messy” election, which is set to be unlike anything the council has ever seen, as more than 40 candidates fight for a lucrative spot.
Cardinia Shire Council has officially entered its caretaker period, and the current team of councillors have now finished their four year term.
And two councillors – Leticia Wilmot and Jodie Owen – will not return to contend for their respective wards.
The former mayors fronted the final council meeting on Monday 21 September to announce their departure.
Both women hinted towards an unprecedented election, which will mark the introduction of single ward councillors.
The congregation of candidates are desperately vying for a spot in their respective wards, including a team campaigning under a controversial “block”, vowing to ‘clean up’ the council.
It follows rumours swirling among current councillors that a number of “dummy” candidates have put their names forward.
Cardinia Shire’s new boundary structure features nine wards – Beaconhills, Bunyip, Central, Henty, Officer, Pakenham Hills, Ranges, Toomuc and Westernport – with just one councillor elected.
According to VEC, candidates must live in the Cardinia Shire but can nominate to represent any ward in the council.
“The next election looks like it’s going to get really messy. It’s going to be very different to what we’ve seen at Cardinia,” Cr Wilmot told Monday’s council meeting.
“It’s going to get interesting and I’m really looking forward to sitting on the sidelines and watching the events unravel.”
A similar sentiment was shared by Jodie Owen, who urged candidates to join the council for the right reasons.
“I hope that those that come in behind me do so for our community – don’t do it to get on State or Federal,” she said.
“Love your community and get elected because that’s whats important, and that’s what’s kept me going.”
Now-former mayor Jeff Springfield said it had been an “absolute honour and pleasure” to work alongside his fellow councillors.
He said the council had achieved some great outcomes within the community.
“I often hear from officers that this is one of the best council groups they’ve ever witnessed and I believe that would be true,” Cr Springfield said.
“I think we really have a great, unique cohort of community minded people here.”
Mr Springfield is set to automatically join the next term, thanks to an uncontested election, after he was the only candidate to run for the Ranges Ward.
Existing councillors Graeme Moore, Ray Brown, Michael Schilling, Collin Ross, Brett Owen and Carol Ryan will all contend again in their respective single wards.
Almost 40 candidates have enrolled with the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) to run for the 2020-24 Cardinia Shire Council term. Here is the list of locals vying for a chance to represent their community… (list as of 11am on Tuesday 22 September, but subject to change)
Beaconhills Ward
– Andrew McNabb
– Jack Marshall
– Brett Owen
– Lyndon Samuel
Bunyip Ward
– Graeme Moore
– Sharon Verschaeren
– Kylie Hamilton
– Chris Andrews
Central Ward
– Chandon Fernando
– Collin Ross
– Brijal Parikh
– Naomi Horsley
Henty Ward
– Kate Lempriere
– Maria Dalla-Zanna
– Carol Ann Ryan
– Jasbir Suropada
– Cheryl Billing-Smith
– Andrew Cook
– Nav Malhi
Officer Ward
– Tammy Radford
– Larissa Damouni
– Nileshkumar Patel
– Daniel Henry Cumming
– Shoheli Sunjida
– Navdeep Singh Bal
– Nav Singh Dhanoa
– Zoe Blair
– Tom Dalton
Pakenham Hills Ward
– Jack Kowarzik
Ranges Ward
– Jeff Springfield
Toomuc Ward
– Michael Jon Schilling
– Taylah Budd
– Greg Verschaeren
– Travis Hamilton
– Manbir Singh
– Stephanie Davies
Westernport Ward
– Kaye Cameron
– Ray Brown
