Mrs Gordon, aged 49 from Wagga, has previously worked in advertising, media and telecommunications before spending the past 17 years raising her six children.

"I've got to the point now where I have more time on my hands and a friend of mine said to me 'you can't complain about the government and expect it to improve if you are not willing to get involved'," she said.

"I'm all about families and keeping the council focused on families because, to me, families are the essential element of Wagga and without families, we really don't have much of a community.

"It's important for me that they put families first. We want to make Wagga the most affordable and livable city in NSW for families, because people are really struggling in the bigger cities and looking for places to go in the regions."

Mrs Gordon said supporting small businesses by reducing red tape was the best way of keeping prosperity in Wagga.

"We want a really prosperous town full of entrepreneurs and small business keeps money local," she said.

"Small business is difficult, it's hard work and we need to make sure they get they reward they deserve.

"The council can do things like not make it difficult to have outdoor chairs and tables, not making improvements or applications a problem."

Mrs Gordon said she was a Liberal Party member but was running as an independent candidate.

She said she wanted to prevent rate rises by having the council focus on essential spending.

"If they are going to take more money from my pocket, I need to make sure they are not going to find fancy ways to spend it that aren't necessary for our council; we want to focus on rates, roads and rubbish," she said.

Mrs Gordon said the council's current rubbish program was excellent but she did not want to see any more rates rises.

"The rates I am paying now are a lot more than the rates some people are paying in Sydney," she said.

"We want to see improvements in the roads and the efficacy in how they do it; outsourcing for roads is something we could look at."

Mrs Gordon also named Lake Albert as a major issue.

"I like the idea that we could import some water into the lake to make it healthier; I'm told that if you dredge the lake you'll pull up the clay and the water will go through the sand, so I don't think that's the best idea," she said.

"Lake Albert is great for families and we want to make sure that remains a healthy element of our society."

In the lead up to this year's election, The Daily Advertiser has profiled the candidates looking to secure a spot on Wagga City Council.

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