Deputy mayor Stephen Lawrence has declared he will run for election in September for the Dubbo Regional Council and says if elected, he may seek the mayor's job.
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"I would not rule out running for mayor if I am elected to council," he said.
"I ruled it out last time, but now that I have had three years of experience on the council coupled with my experience as vice-president of rural and regional Local Government New South Wales, so I may put my hand up.
"I'd have to get elected to the council first. Then It would be a question of determining if there is support for me standing as mayor."
I would consider running for mayor but it would depend on who is on the council.
- Stephen Lawrence
Cr Lawrence stressed there was no divide between him and current Dubbo Regional Council mayor Ben Shields.
"There is no rift between Ben and I," he said.
"It is a matter of stating my intentions, last time I ran I ruled out running for mayor because I had no experience, I was a first-time councillor, now I feel I have the necessary experience so I would not rule myself out of standing for mayor.
"I don't want to look like I am getting ahead of myself, the most important thing is to get elected to council, I would consider having a tilt for mayor if I am, but it would depend on who is on the council and what support there is.
"In terms of my relationship with Ben, he is a big boy and he understands that I have to do what I believe is the right thing as far as taking forward the issues that I believe in.
"In politics, if you do get elected, you owe it to the people who voted for you to try and do as much as you can to implement the things that you stand for."
Mayor Ben Shields said he was not surprised by Cr Lawrence's ambition.
"I would suspect there would be nine other councillors who'd want to be mayor," he said.
"I'd not want to be on a council where we don't have ambitious councillors wanting to lead. I get on very well with Stephen, there is no personal or professional rift between us at all, but politically we are poles apart."