Four months after ending his term early due to illness, an outspoken former councillor is eyeing a return to local government at next month's council elections.
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Paul Funnell resigned from Wagga City Council due to serious concerns about his health in early June, but the 58-year-old believes he is ready to reclaim his seat on council.
Mr Funnell said the serious health concerns that prompted his resignation were still present, but hoped they would not impact his campaign.
"There has been no cure found but we are trying a new regimen of treatment and we'll see how we go," he said.
"I never wanted to leave in the first place, it was only because I was forced into the situation due to ill health."
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Mr Funnell said he did not initially plan to ever return to council, however, the postponement of the elections until December had made it possible.
"I thought that was it, it was over, done and finished," he said.
"The fact that elections got delayed allowed me to look at casting my hat back in the ring, because there's still a hell of a lot of work to be done in the place, I'll tell you."
Mr Funnell said he would be continuing his usual focus on "transparency and accountability" if he were re-elected.
At least 26 candidates have already put their name forward for the nine spots available in the Wagga elections, including a significant portion of the current councillors.
Current councillors Dan Hayes, Vanessa Keenan, Rod Kendall, Tim Koschel, Kerry Pascoe and Dallas Tout have all confirmed they will recontest.
Cr Hayes said he is raring for the election campaign to begin and urged the community to help spread awareness. "We were ready to go before it was postponed so we just hope the community is aware the election is coming up, especially since we're heading into Christmas because it is quite unusual," Cr Hayes said.
Cr Dallas Tout has also placed his name in the running and said it was good to see a healthy mix of experience and new faces in the running.
"It's very exciting to be formally registered as a nominated candidate and I'm looking forward to the election," Cr Tout said.
"There's a mixture of existing councillors and new candidates and it's great to see a spread like that for the community to be able to consider and vote for."
Nominations opened on October 25 and candidates have until midday on November 3 to enter the running ahead of the December 4 ballot.
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