Wagga City councillors Vanessa Keenan and Tim Koschel have announced their nominations to be mayor and deputy mayor, respectively.
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In a statement, Cr Keenan said she believed she had the skills and experience to lead the city.
“My background working for and with Wagga Council for the last 16 years places me as one of the most experienced councillors currently serving,” she said.
Cr Keenan cited a number of projects and achievements she was involved with that shows her mayoral credentials.
Those projects include Riverside, Riverina Intermodal Freight and Logistics Hub and working at the disaster recovery centre during the 2012 floods.
“Since being elected to council in 2016, I’ve been instrumental in introducing live-streaming to council’s meetings, advocated for improving our river safety, improving the efficiency of our existing parking and improving our footpath and road network,” Cr Keenan said.
“I’ve been a strong supporter of upgrading our levee network and bringing the Canberra Raiders to Wagga.”
Asked about major goals she would pursue should she be elected, Cr Keenan told the Daily Advertiser that sustainable growth was major.
“We’ve got a big challenge in keeping up with the infrastructure required, maintaining our existing assets and planning for the future,” she said.
“It’s a tough balance and we need to get it right.
“We also have a number of significant strategic projects that are at significant points in their development, notably RiFL.
“With the announcement of Visy as a partner in the project, there’s a lot of government and business confidence we need to capitalise on.”
I think Wagga is ready for a mayor that is competent, capable, experienced and passionate that also happens to be female.
- Vanessa Kennan, Wagga City Councillor
Should she be elected, she would be the first female mayor of the city.
“Whilst not the first female councillor to nominate for mayor, I am hoping to be the first who gains the support of my colleagues,” she said.
She told the Daily Advertiser that one of the driving factors to stand for council was the chance to represent a different voice to the traditional older male who is usually elected.
“I think it can be hard to break from tradition, particularly in local government, which is historically a bastion of tradition,” Cr Kennan said.
“This current term of council is made up of councillors who work well together and we’re breaking new ground in a number of areas, including gender equity.
“In the last few years, council has been adapting well to the dynamic environment we all live and work in these days – I think Wagga is ready for a mayor who is competent, capable, experienced and passionate who also happens to be female.”
Full statement by Cr Vanessa Kennan
New contender for deputy mayor
Meanwhile, fellow Cr Tim Koschel announced that he will be running for deputy mayor.
On September 11, he said he was “seriously considering” a bid for mayor.
However, he said the decision to run for deputy was to “...give myself the time and opportunity to keep growing and be ready for next term”.
It came after he learnt about the commitment required on top of working full time.
“After speaking with Dallas [Tout] about being deputy, I was amazed at how much work is involved,” Cr Koschel told the Daily Advertiser.
“I made the decision because I don’t want to not be able to give 100 per cent.”
Cr Koschel said he would work more on increasing Wagga as an inclusive and diverse city.
“There’s a big gap with community engagement with council and I’m hopeful of working to break down barriers.”
There’s a big gap with community engagement with council and I’m hopeful of working to break down barriers.
- Tim Koschel, Wagga City Councillor
He said he would like to see Cr Keenan elected for her credentials in addition to having Wagga’s first female mayor.
The election of mayor and deputy mayor will be held at the next council meeting on Monday, September 24.
The council will resolve whether the election will be conducted by preferential ballot, ordinary ballot or open voting.
The elected mayor and deputy mayor will hold office until September 2020.
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