Former Dubbo mayor Ben Shields has a team of candidates running in his name at the NSW Local Government elections in December.
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The 'Ben Shields Team' is registered with the NSW Electoral Commission and a number of candidates are listed, but the former mayor has declined to confirm if he will run himself.
The candidates who have nominated as part of the Ben Shields Team so far are Mick Catelotti and former Dubbo councillor Ann Barnard listed in the North Ward, and Jess Gough and Mikaela Solomons listed in the Wellington ward.
Current deputy mayor Anne Jones has nominated in the Wellington ward as an independent, and Shibli Chowdhury has nominated in the South Ward, also as an independent.
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There are a number of other candidates who have announced their intention to run, but at the time of print were not yet nominated on the NSW Electoral Commission website.
Lodgement of nominations close at 12pm next Wednesday November 3.
When contacted by the Daily Liberal and asked if he intended to run, Mr Shields said he had no comment.
Mr Shields stood down from his position as mayor of Dubbo Regional Council in early April this year, after a turbulent series of events that included his admission to hospital.
The council has since seen the completion of a Performance Improvement Order issued by NSW Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock, and the release of a redacted report by independent company Pinnacle Integrity which was critical in its assessment of council's management of code of conduct complaints.
Current Dubbo mayor Stephen Lawrence has called for ICAC to investigate code of conduct handling by the council.
Ann Barnard's last term on council was 2008 to 2012.
The disability support worker said she was driven to nominate this year because she wanted to see unity in the council.
"I didn't particularly like what happened earlier this year and I just wanted to come back and support Michael Catelotti in his campaign," she told the Daily Liberal.
"When I was on council before I was in support of Ben and I wanted to continue that."
Ms Barnard said repairs to roads should be among the most pressing issues for the new councillors, and was particularly concerned about West Dubbo traffic.
"I realise that the West Dubbo intersection, although open now and traffic seems to be flowing really well, I'm a bit concerned about the River Street bridge crossing," she said. "I don't know that it's going to solve the problems down the track.
"I go to West Dubbo every day I work, and the traffic coming into Dubbo from the Parkes highway is bad and with all the development in West Dubbo, it's only going to get worse."
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