Challenges face next Clarence mayor

By Tim Howard

By this time next week the Clarence Valley will know which of its nine councillors will be mayor for the remainder of this term of council.

The election for Mayor will be the first order of business of the September 26 Clarence Valley Council meeting, with at least four councillors including current mayor Cr Ian Tiley, nominating.

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Three other councillors, Debrah Novak, Peter Johnstone and Steve Pickering have also nominated.

Cr Tiley, the first Clarence Valley mayor after the 2004 amalgamation, did not comment about his decision to run, other than to say councillors were well aware of what he had to offer.

Cr Novak has been a councillor since 2016 and Crs Pickering and Johnstone were elected in December 2021 poll.

Nominations for deputy mayor are not so clear cut, with current deputy Mayor Cr Greg Clancy yet to decide if he’ll run.

Cr Jeff Smith has expressed interest in the deputy’s job and enjoys popular support from the community.

Cr Novak has also ruled herself out of the deputy mayoral race if her tilt for the mayor’s job proves unsuccessful.

She has fashioned herself as a people’s champion and as Mayor has promised she would be advocating for community interests.

Debrah Novak.

Cr Karen Toms, who ran for mayor unsuccessfully in 2022, said she would not be contesting either position on Tuesday.

Cr Johnstone said as mayor he would focus on service provision in line with community wishes without cost increases and try to build trust in the council.

“Developing trust and transparency across our community is an essential task for whoever is the next mayor and I commit to achieving this,” he said.

He said he had learned a lot in a little under two years on council.

“During Ian’s term as mayor I have watched, listened and learnt from Ian, our community, council staff and the other councillors and believe that at this time I am best placed to lead the council forward,” he said.

Cr Pickering said he would focus on unifying the council after a fractious first half of its term.

Whoever is elected, he or she faces a Herculean task uniting a council that has failed to live up to hopes and ambitions talked up after the election.

And with the next council elections due in September 2024, he or she has limited time to do it.

Peter Jo

In January 2022 Cr Tiley talked of “reimagining the Clarence Valley” and said a “goal … for this council to be a leading council [in NSW] … admired and respected [across] the community/“

Most would agree the council has fallen short of these aims, although leading during a pandemic and dealing with a massive flood disaster in its first months was a massive challenge.

As Mayor Cr Tiley has instigated changes that have streamlined council’s operation.

Abandoning committee meetings in favour of more intense pre-meeting workshops and overseeing more sprightly debates during the monthly meetings has been a positive.

But Cr Tiley has not been able to create a unified council.

In-fighting began almost immediately as the new council dealt with issues handed down from the previous regime, such as sale of the South Grafton Visitor Information Centre.

This issue cost Mayor Tiley some skin when some off-the-record comments found their way into the local media.

And it set a pattern of infighting and squabbling within council.

It has meant issues such as the Treelands Drive Community Centre and the 2022 closure of the Grafton Olympic Pool continue to be controversial as council fails to settle on a position.

The new mayor will get a look at both these issues as they are sure to be in same business paper as the mayoral vote.

Steve Pickering

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