Dismayed at councillor's State election candidacy
I watched the local news with dismay on May 27, where one of our newly elected councillors, Cr Sundstrom, has announced he is standing for the Seat of Terrigal in the upcoming State Election in or around March 2019.
Cr Sundstrom has been a councillor for about 259 days or 37 weeks.
He stood for the same state seat last election and I am sure he was always going to stand for the seat again, even when he stood for the position of councillor.
To do this to the communities of the Coast is just wrong.
If it happens and he gets elected, there will have to be a By-election for the position left vacant on the Council.
Why didn't he let the communities within his ward know that he was going to stand for the state seat when he was campaigning to become a councillor?
I know why: He may never have been elected if the East Ward communities knew that he is using the position as a stepping stone to state politics.
I am sure that Cr Sundstrom will say that he was not planning on standing for the election when he stood for council, that he is committed to the people of the Coast, that he can do more for us if elected to the seat of Terrigal.
If he gets elected and the Liberal Government retains power, he will be able to do less than he can now for the Central Coast while sitting on a Labor dominated Council.
Cr Sundstrom can say that he will have $5m per year for the dredging of the channel at the entrance of the Brisbane Waters but his government needs to be in power and I would like this commitment to come from the leader of the party not a hopeful candidate.
Cr Sundstrom should resign as a councillor now to show his commitment to the Central Coast, also any other sitting councillors who have stood or are considering standing for the next lot of state elections (Cr Pilon, Cr Holstein, etc.) need to do the same, so if and when the By-election for the new councillors happen we have people who want to serve the full term they were elected for.
Email, 1 Jun 2018
Carl Veugen, Umina Beach