THE Mildura councillor widely considered likely to be the city’s next mayor will not contest this year’s local government elections.
Deputy Mayor Min Poole said juggling work, personal life and civic duties had been a “struggle” in recent times and this week made the “difficult decision” not to nominate for the October council elections.
Mildura Mayor Simon Clemence has long made it known this would be his final term in office, paving the way for his deputy to step up to the role.
However, after considering her position for the past few weeks, Cr Poole said it was time to recharge before another likely tilt at local government.
Cr Poole yesterday said making the decision had been “a bit of a weight off the shoulders”.
“Like any big decision, once you’ve actually made it that’s an achievement in itself,” Cr Poole said.
“I have really struggled and it’s only been very recently that I thought, is that what I want to commit to for the next four years, bearing in mind my personal life, so I’ve just decided no — not these four years, anyway.
“I’ve always worked hard and worked a lot of jobs and I’ll always be committed to the community, but right now in my personal life I just need to recharge a bit.”
Cr Poole said that her position as deputy, with Cr Clemence stepping away from local government, had made her decision more difficult.
“I had been wanting to be mayor for a few years … so potentially it was expected,” she said.
“Hopefully, who knows that opportunity may arise in the future, but right now it’s not for me.”
Cr Poole, who now lives in Ouyen, will join Underbool-based Greg Brown on the sidelines this election, potentially leaving the southern sector of the municipality without a council candidate.
“I do strongly encourage leaders who have the right attitude — that genuine care and commitment for community,” Cr Poole said.
“It would be great to have anyone along the Mallee Track and the Millewa and I do believe that could be beneficial.”
Cr Poole said she viewed the chance for fresh faces on the council as positive.
“If it ends up half with the experience, the knowledge and the skill set, I think that’s great to help mentor the other half,” she said.
“The short-term challenge will be getting to know the whole system as well as each other and I do hope that there’s diversity because our whole community is diverse.”
Cr Poole said that while Mildura Council would face some challenging times with the COVID-19 pandemic, she was proud to leave while the organisation was in good shape.
“Mildura Rural City Council has got a great reputation,” she said.
“I’m quite proud of what we have achieved in the past four years and I’m really appreciative of the opportunity and, who knows, in the future it may arise again.”
Mildura Mayor Simon Clemence said Cr Poole had been a “robust and impactful councillor” and a person of “very high calibre and very high moral fibre”.
“It’s unfortunate that she’s not standing because it is people like Min who local government needs,” he said.
“My level of confidence in her was that I believed she would have made an excellent mayor and would certainly have the capacity and I think she would have had the support of the majority of the other councillors.”
