SELF-proclaimed “tradie” Jason Modica is almost certain to be Mildura’s next mayor despite calls from some sections for a popular vote to determine the city’s top civic duty.
The council’s mayoral election will not be held until November 19, when the new council will meet formally for the first time, however Cr Modica has both the desire and, more importantly, the numbers to be elevated as the city’s leader.
It may well be a case of better late than never, as he was reportedly earmarked to become mayor under a pact last November before former police inspector Simon Clemence jumped ship to reassume the mantle.
Cr Clemence gained the numbers at the 11th hour, scuttling the team’s plan to install Cr Modica and Anthony Cirillo as mayor and deputy mayor respectively.
Cr Min Poole instead became deputy mayor with the blessing of Cr Clemence, leaving the twice-elected deputy mayor Cr Modica out of a leadership position.
The formation of the new-look Mildura Council, however, should give Cr Modica the green light for a successful shot at the top job.
Cr Glenn Milne topped the first preference poll with 4887 votes and Cr Modica was fourth elected with 2239 first preferences.
The city’s five new councillors have all but ruled themselves out of a leadership role in their inaugural year, leaving Cr Modica, former mayors Glenn Milne and Mark Eckel and Cr Helen Healy in the race — if there is one.
Cr Eckel has ruled out running and Cr Milne was weighing up his options this week.
Cr Healy wants a woman’s voice in either of the two top positions — which would be herself given the stance of the newcomers — while Cr Modica has publicly declared his interest in a leadership position.
Given he has already served two terms as deputy mayor, it could be assumed he means the higher office.
Cr Eckel has already named Cr Modica as the likely candidate and, with the deputy mayoral role there for her taking, he is also likely to gain the support of Cr Healy, her ally Stefano de Pieri and his own 2019 federal election campaign manager Jodi Reynolds.
That would give Cr Modica the minimum number of votes needed to assume office unless there is an unlikely fallout over the next fortnight.
“Jake the tradie” will have moved up the rungs quite a way.
It may have come 12 months later than expected, but Jake the mayor will be hoping it was worth the wait.
—-
Meet your new council
MILDURA will have a new-look council for the next four years with five of the nine councillors elected to local government for the first time.
The new council will meet formally for the first time on November 19 to determine the city’s new mayor and deputy mayor for the coming 12 months. Sunraysia Daily’s ALLAN MURPHY caught up with the nine councillors this week to find out what each wants to bring to the civic table, major issues they want addressed and leadership aspirations.
GLENN MILNE
(first elected)
“Trying to change the rates system is something that I’m a strong believer in because it is getting out of control, but it’s not only for our council, it’s right through rural and regional Victoria.
“You have got to look at the issue of the mall — there’s concerns about rubbish collection and there are a lot of issues around development compliance the amount of time it takes to get a permit.
“There is a big opportunity post-COVID to speak to the State and Federal governments about really having a proper shot at decentralisation because people are now realising they can work from home in regional cities.
“There’s concerns about meetings behind closed doors and that should never happen.
“You only have to look at council’s satisfaction surveys — they need to be addressed and you need to see a change in the figures and look at those areas where there are trends and get back to some basics.
“There’s a lot of challenges out there and they have got to be addressed properly and openly.”
Key issues:
Rates review
Mall effectiveness
COVID recovery
Leadership ambitions:
“I really don’t know … I want to see what the feeling is among the councillors.”
IAN ARNEY
(second elected)
“I just want to make sure that people in our community are represented, that if they have an issue that is heard and hopefully dealt with satisfactorily.
“It’s the nature of the way we are that we quite often get disgruntled, but there seems to be a number of people who are quite disgruntled and it would be nice to change the relationship.
“I’m very keen to get in and get my teeth into it and to get a better understanding of the responsibilities of what we can and can’t do for people to help them, regardless of whether that’s one person or 1000 people.
“If there’s a particular issue that is important that needs to be considered and we need to ensure that council does its very best to work for the community.”
Key issues:
Community representation
Town planning
Rates system
Leadership ambitions:
“That’s not even a consideration for me.”
LIAM WOOD
(third elected)
“The COVID situation has hurt a lot of people and we really need to focus on those businesses that aren’t doing well — retail, hospitality and events.
“People can get a bit mixed about what council does — we do the roads and we do the bins — but the social aspect of council is probably the key one that I will be looking at, too.
“Everyone needs to start feeling good about themselves again and the council needs to provide those type of things that can facilitate that, which is trying to get major events up here and getting people back to a bit of normality with some social interaction.
“The red bin is a glaringly obvious thing to peel back and go back to once a week collection.
“We can get a couple of runs on the board early with the new council and those two things could be easily done — have a major event and give people what they want.
“That’s what we’re here for — to listen to what people have to say.”
Key issues:
COVID recovery
Future government funding
Reinvigorate city centre
Leadership ambitions:
“I want to get as involved as much as possible, but I don’t want to go in flying blind and assume to know everything, so I would probably be a councillor for a year and then maybe look at further up the rung.”
JASON MODICA
(fourth elected)
“I’m very much looking at how our exit out of COVID-19 looks going forward.
“There was a hell of a lot going on pre-COVID so there will be more work to do as a council moving forward.
“We need to look closely at the funding and grants issues as a means to help us develop as a region.
“While we may not agree on every subject within the council chambers, I’m looking forward to working together with other councillors and keeping our ears to the ground to continue to work on issues which are impacting our community.”
Key issues:
Post-COVID relaunch
Decentralisation
Energy transition
Leadership ambitions:
“I’m very much interested, but we’ll get together as a group at our induction on Monday and see what unfolds from there.”
STEFANO DI PIERI
(fifth elected)
“There has been a loss of trust between a large section of the community and the council as an institution.
“My intent is to spend my first year of four to reinstate the notion that the institution and the citizens have to trust one another.
“I take very much on board the comments that I have had from people who are concerned about the high level of rates.
“I am not a populist, I understand the constraints, I understand the limitations, I understand the role of state and federal governments — I don’t think there is a simple bullet, but there must be a change of formula in the funding methods and I will be working hard with experts to understand if it is possible to find a different formula which can accommodate the needs of the municipality going forward.”
Key issues:
Community confidence
New rating formula
Town planning
Leadership ambitions:
“I’m a novice … I don’t have any leadership aspiration.”
MARK ECKEL
(sixth elected)
“Mine’s pretty well the status quo. I never really went out with an agenda item, I went out and based my election campaign on being reliable and as a team player.
“I’ll remain to do that — over the years, and this has been my sixth election, I followed the votes as they were cast and it was the status quo — it was so close to what I’ve done in the past.
“I believe, very strongly, that it was my cohort that followed me and I think that was the conservative voter and also the senior voters.”
Key issues:
COVID-19 recovery
Domestic violence
Jobs creation
Leadership ambitions:
“No, I haven’t. I do hope that Jason (Modica) puts up his hand. He deserves it.”
HELEN HEALY
(seventh elected)
“The total focus is on future-proofing Mildura. It’s really about looking at the opportunities post-COVID and particularly around how well placed (we are) in the Mallee in regard to carbon capturing and renewable energies.
“(I am) looking at post-COVID recovery from not only an economic perspective around jobs and helping people who have taken a real battering, but also the social and cultural recovery.
“One of the emerging bigger issues than the economy is going to be social recovery — mental health and those kind of issues — it’s really important for us to have a really powerful angle on that.
“We have got a lot of work to do as a council to rebuild our reputation and people’s faith in us and I think we’ve got a great council to do it.”
Key issues:
Rebuild community faith
Community engagement
Funding equity
Leadership ambitions:
“It’s eminently suitable that a woman has one of the leadership roles.”
CYNDI POWER
(eighth elected)
“The way I’ve run my campaign is that I’ve been completely honest and completely authentic — I welcome input and I love engaging with the public.
“I intend to be an open ear through social media — I will answer all messages and I will take on board all suggestions.
“I think in the past people felt like no one was listening to them — that is a huge goal of mine to actually acknowledge input — all of it — even the ones that I might not agree with. It’s still my job to advocate for what our citizens here want.
“If it’s a concern to the public, it has to be a concern of councillors.
“I look forward to working as a team, I look forward to building up a culture of trust … I’m just so excited, so delighted to work with this group.
“I can’t wait … it’s going to be wonderful.”
Key issues:
Attracting specialist doctors
Mental health and wellbeing
Bin system
Leadership ambitions:
“Definitely not in my first year. I have got so much learning to do and I really just look forward to learning how to be a councillor without worrying about added pressures of being mayor or deputy.”
JODI REYNOLDS
(ninth elected)
“My campaign has been run on supporting other women and supporting other women into leadership roles and I’ll certainly continue with that as much as possible as I can in my role as councillor.
“Also concentrating on those issues that we all know are going to be big issues going forward, so making sure that council does everything that it can to help with employing young people and women who have been impacted by COVID-19.
“That will go a long way towards helping with other issues that are related to unemployment, like mental health issues and that kind of thing.
“Projects going forward are going to bring a lot of money and jobs into our region and we need to make sure that we plan for that.
“We also need to have some dialogue with the Mildura International Flight Training Academy and nearby residents to try to find a compromise that can keep the flying school operating while also providing some relief for those residents.”
Key issues:
Women’s issues
Jobs creation
Mental health and wellbeing
Leadership ambitions:
“I’ll be establishing what my role is as a councillor and making sure that I can do that effectively before I start any ambitions for mayor or deputy mayor.”
