The Daily Advertiser continues its series of questions and answers with council candidates.
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Deputy mayor Dallas Tout has spent sixteen years in local government, first at Gundagai for three terms, where he served as deputy mayor for six years and then in Wagga, where he’s served two years as deputy mayor.
What are the biggest issues Wagga faces?
The biggest issue is catching up with the social and physical infrastructure from the past several years of rapid growth.
The problem is people have gone in before places are ready, we need to ensure we’ve got roads, roundabouts and parks in place.
We need to catch up where we’ve lagged behind and then get ahead of the game before the development hits.
You don’t have a very high profile as a councillor, is that by design?
My focus is that I have a lot of skills to offer, I get in and talk to the community and staff and I just get the job done. I do the doing.
Getting out there with a huge profile is not high on my list, there’s more I can do for the community.
For example, when I came in we only had to balance the budget for one year, I moved an amendment to bring more financial rigour, certainty and consistency.
How effective has the current council been?
Contrary to public opinion this council as a group, with the staff, has done the heavy lifting, we resolved and carried issues, moved forward and made the decisions that needed to be made.
This term has also been the most successful in terms of getting the highest amount of funding in non-recurrent grants by effectively lobbying.
As a councillor, how much responsibility do you take for the erosion of public confidence?
I can understand there’s a perception of that erosion but council has stayed the course and come out with wins for the community. Rex are taking on the hangar, the Bomen Enabling Roads project has been signed on to, there are some big, long-term wins for the community.
Why are you running for re-election?
The most critical things for any candidate are to have an overriding passion for local government, a skill set they can offer as part of the council and experience in local government.
I’ve been lucky enough to be involved not just as a councillor but also as vice president of the NSW Public Library Association.
I would love to have the opportunity to serve for another four years.