Dubbo adults will use their power to elect new civic leaders next month.
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Using the information the candidates provided to the NSW Electoral Commission at their nomination, the Daily Liberal will introduce readers, the voters of Dubbo, to each potential councillor.
Armed with this information voters will be well placed to choose the 11 candidates out of 53 nominees who will best represent their interests for the four years from the September 8 poll.
At each election, the commission makes the candidate information sheets available to the public on its website.
In the fourth of a series of articles, today the Daily Liberal will feature Group D.
Lyn Griffiths will attempt to retain her seat on Dubbo City Council as the top candidate in Group D.
She highlighted her time in the city as a resident and liquor wholesaler.
“As a resident and business owner in Dubbo I am dedicated to the growth and development of our beautiful city,” Cr Griffiths wrote on the form.
Nearly 20 years ago she and her family had moved to Dubbo, and since then she said she had never ceased to be amazed and humbled by the “friendship, generosity of spirit and support” the city had given them.
The candidate revealed she was also a director of the Westhaven Association but did not disclose her age.
Cr Griffiths and the other five members of the group disclosed they were not members of any political parties and each identified as an independent candidate.
Eumungerie resident Neil Rabbett stepped up to become Group D's second election hopeful.
The semi-retired primary producer filled the section of the form relating to his experience, ability and aptitude to hold civic office.
A tree change from the Central Coast brought him to a property at Eumungerie 12 years ago.
His working life had included being with the PMG Department (Telstra), in club management as a secretary-manager and as a state sales manager in the print industry.
His community service in the past 12 years had included Goonoo Action Group member and chairman, Eumungerie Progress Association member and president, delegate to Dubbo City Council’s Rural Consultative Working Party and Central West Community Conservation Area Committee chairman.
Mr Rabbett's goals as a councillor would be city development, health, tourism and rural matters.
He wanted to become part of a cohesive team to grow Dubbo to really become the “hub of the west”.
Mr Rabbett, 69, has been married for 49 years and is a father and grandfather.
Chris Harris of Dubbo is next on Cr Griffiths’ group.
She has lived in the city for the past 23 years and it was where she raised her children.
The owner of Dubbo Cleaning Solution did not disclose her age.
Her message to voters was straightforward.
“Dubbo has been very kind to myself and my family and I am now a very proud business owner and I would like the opportunity to give back,” she wrote.
The fourth member of Group D is a young candidate with a service role.
Scott Davey, 22, is a carpenter employed by a local building company but he is also a member of the NSW Rural Fire Service.
He pointed to both of these in demonstrating his experience, ability and aptitude to hold civic office.
He called himself a “community-minded individual” who was “committed to the continued growth and development of Dubbo”.
His strong leadership skills were demonstrated through his position as building company foreman and his election to first deputy with the NSW Rural Fire Service and ability to fulfill the role of crew leader, he said.
Dubbo resident Debbie Dickson is number five on the Griffiths ticket.
She is an owner of business Dubbo Cleaning Solution.
In the optional section of the form she did not list membership of any organisations or her age.
Her experience, ability and aptitude to hold civic office started with being “born and bred” in Dubbo.
“After leaving for a short period of time I returned home and then commenced a business which is now thriving only due to the generosity of my home town,” she wrote.
Peter O'Leary is the second Eumungerie resident to stand for the council in Group D.
He said he had lived and worked in the Dubbo region as a primary producer all his working life.
He moved from Elong Elong to the Dubbo local government area village in 1977, married and had six children.
He was a long-term member of the Eumungerie brigade of the Rural Fire Service, a Goonoo Action Group member, Eumungerie Progress Association member and an alternate delegate on the council Rural Consultative Working Party.