If you could pick a mayor who would it be? Did you know a community can vote for the mayor instead of the council?
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In fact, there are 33 councils Local Government Areas in NSW that directly elect their mayor, and Dubbo mayor Ben Shields is not opposed to the idea.
"I am in favour of the popularly-elected mayor. It provides stability over a four-year period and gives a community control over who leads their council," he said.
"It gives mayor candidates a chance to stand on a range of policies and projects and election gives them a mandate to carry those out."
Cr Shields said the Dubbo City Council did visit the idea of a popularly-elected mayor 10 years ago.
"[The] council has always operated on the system of a mayor elected by the council. The issue of a directly elected mayor was discussed within [the] council in 2009 but ultimately decided against," he said.
To change the way the mayor is elected there would have to be a referendum at the next councillor vote.
The NSW Electoral Commission advises that running a mayoral election in conjunction with a council election adds about 10 per cent to the overall cost of the poll.
What do you think? Should Dubbo residents be able to choose who is their mayor and who represents their council? We want to know! Answer in the poll below.
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Grace Ryan
Deputy Editor at the Central Western Daily, Orange. You'll mostly find me tinkering in social media and newsletters. Working hard to get our stories in front of your eyes.
Deputy Editor at the Central Western Daily, Orange. You'll mostly find me tinkering in social media and newsletters. Working hard to get our stories in front of your eyes.
