IN the 13 August Edition of Coffs Coast News Of The Area, an opinion piece was published from Margaret England.

The piece suggested five questions to ask in regards to potential Mayoral candidates for the upcoming Coffs Harbour City Council elections.

The questions were as follows:

1. Does the candidate live in Coffs Harbour?

2. Does the candidate have a record of public service?

3. Will the candidate be able to cope with negative media, for example Facebook without resorting to litigation which has the effect of silencing critics?

4. Can we be sure there is no financial or business advantage to be had in seeking office?

5. Can we be sure the candidate is not running for a particular political party?

In response, several candidates have provided responses to the questions, and News Of The Area hopes to receive more responses in coming weeks.

Tony Judge

“1. I live in Woolgoolga.

“2. I am a crisis supporter at Lifeline and engaged with a couple of community groups.

“3. I will never litigate about a political comment, but I will engage in public debate.

“4. I have no financial interests other than the house I live in, the car I drive and some superannuation.

“5. I am a member of the Labor Party and will run as a Labor candidate in the spirit of openness and honesty.”

Dean Evers

“1. I have called Coffs Harbour home since 1994 and have raised three children here.

“2. I have never been in politics before however I have worked for a government organisation (Department of Community Services).

“3. I know I wear my heart on my sleeve however I believe I am very thick skinned when it comes to negative media.

I believe negative media is symptomatic of being in the public eye and you cannot please everyone.

“4. There is no financial or business advantage in my running for council.

“I have no personal agendas other than to continue to serve and care for our community, as I have done for many years.

“I do not own any property.

“5. I am running as an independent and have no affiliation with any party or group.

“I am not asking for nor accepting any campaign funds.

“My campaign will be run on what I can afford to do.

“As I stated above my priority is the electorate and I will work hard for the entire community.”

Rodger Pryce

“1. Yes, I live at Brooklana, in the Coffs Harbour LGA.

“2. Yes I do, having been a member of the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee, President of the Coffs Harbour Pony Club and past member of Coffs City Rotary.

“3. Absolutely, criticism is fine. Telling downright lies in an attempt to personally harm a candidate, should not be tolerated and must always be outside of what is viewed to be acceptable.

“4. Could not agree more. In the current Council we have Councillors who have conducted business with Council during their term, no matter how transparent, I do not agree with that. I have no business interests other than my farm.

“5. Well, I am certainly not. I have never been a member of any political party.

“I had never met Gurmesh Singh until after I decided to run for Mayor, but I do count Jenny Bonfield who was our Mayor and did run for Federal Labor as a friend.

“I do note that both Labor and the Greens are contesting the election.”