Mr Bailey is locally enrolled in Ponto which is a small civil parish located south of Geurie but chose to run as part of the Wellington ward.

Mr Bailey admitted the current mayor of Dubbo is a big reason as to why he has found himself running in the election.

"Stephen Lawrence suggested my name to somebody," he said.

"They asked me if I would act as their number two."

Running alongside Mr Bailey as Labor's candidate's in Wellington will be Helen Swan.

Mr Bailey believes it should be a tough fight to be voted in as one of the two councillors from Wellington ward.

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"I'm standing with Helen Swan labor candidate," he said.

"The Wellington ward has historically been a conservative place.

"I think you start off on the back foot for that reason."

Mr Bailey mentioned he and Ms Swan know each other quite well away from politics.

"I knew her for a couple of years," he said.

"In a context outside of politics."

Mr Bailey was among those councillors who attended the open forum at the Dubbo RSL on Wednesday evening.

Mr Bailey joked he was one of the final people who got the chance to speak on the night.

"I did I think I was about the last speaker on the list," he said.

The open forum allowed candidates the chance to tell the community about themselves, what ward they are in, what they have to offer council and why they are running.

Mr Bailey felt the evening was a good chance to showcase the depth of the current candidate pool.

"I thought it was a very useful exercise," he said.

"Because they limited talking to two minutes and it then becomes a challenge to say what you want to say in a very short period of time.

"There was a powerful field of candidates I thought."

"There was some very qualified and useful citizens who have put their hand up."

Mr Bailey believes this cohort of candidates shows the region is headed in the right direction going forward.

"I think there are 35 nominees for ten places," he said.

"It's a sign of a healthy democracy I thought."

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