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General News

9 January, 2020

Katrina Mellick to run for mayor of TRC

The Tableland Regional Council’s deputy Mayor Katrina Mellick has officially nominated to run for the top job come the March Local Government Elections.

By Carl Portella

Katrina Mellick to run for mayor of TRC - feature photo

The Tableland Regional Council’s deputy Mayor Katrina Mellick has officially nominated to run for the top job come the March Local Government Elections.

In an exclusive interview with The Express on Thursday Ms Mellick revealed that she made her decision to run for mayor after discussing it with her family and friends over the festive break.

With a past history in employment and business Ms Mellick brings years of experience and a full term as deputy mayor of TRC to the table.

“You find your vocation when you marry your passion with your skills and experience” she said

“I have been very fortunate in my life that I have always felt fulfilled in whatever roll I’ve had”.

“If someone told me 6 years ago that I would be in council I would have told them they were dreaming and even now to consider running for mayor it’s taken me a long time to come to the decision I have”. “I think it’s because I really do care about the region and the people in it and feel a strong sense of prosperity for the future”.

“It’s the right time for me, I’ve had time to reflect and talk to my son Tom and the rest of my family and they fully support me in the decision I have made” said Ms Mellick.

“When I was elected initially I wasn’t aware of the enormity of the situation, it was going to take a lot of money and a lot of hard decision making to get the outcome we wanted”.

“People may not see it, but we as a council have worked hard to achieve what we did, just aligning all the internal systems and processes so we have the efficiencies that were intended after De-Amalgamation”. “Was De-Amalgamation a good or a bad thing? Well

It’s like a divorce it all depends on who you ask”.

“Both councils are now working collectively together and that’s a good thing”.

Ms Mellick was asked about the recent redistribution of the divisions within council boundaries which saw some of the traditional areas split up to accommodate the population percentage and as a result claims that  the benefits a divisional council had in the past is no longer there.

“When we come to the table we have to make decisions for the whole of the council region not just one division, the benefits of a divisional council has been taken away by the latest boundary changes which are not based on communities of interest they are based on having an even population of voters” she said.

If elected to the position of Mayor at the next election on March 28 Ms Mellick said she would like to bring a level of confidence in terms of consistency of approach, making informed decisions for the greater good, not just for now but into the future.

“I Listen, I care but I will make the hard decisions when necessary“. She said.   “I care about the prosperity of the region, supporting small businesses, who are the biggest employers in this region, community cohesion in bringing the various communities together”.

“It’s not just about the roads, sewerage and water there are other things that the community is concerned with and we need to address those as well”. “I’ll respect the democratic process that enables me to take up this position and if the voters feel that I am able to do the job, I ask them to vote for me come Election Day” she said.

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