Candidate – David Clark

I am seeking your vote at this election.

As your Councillor I have worked hard and taken the time to listen intently to people, and to balance your needs with those of Council for the best outcome.

Almost all we do is unseen and unnoticed, until it doesn’t work.  My role is to ensure it works, and that resources are allocated to what’s important, from your perspective and mine. Councils do over 100 different things which touch your lives in different ways.

There are three things specifically about me.  Firstly the right personality to get the best from Council. Secondly the skills to navigate the complexities of rural living, and thirdly the upside of having the resources for Council to do more.

Council is cooperative not combative.  The ability to communicate a need, convert that to an action and enlist others support is essential.  That requires facts, truth and above all respect in dealing with other’s and their points of view.  There were several examples of this with the roadside tree clearing at Raglan this year where what I was able to talk through with residents flowed directly into improving how Council did this work.

We are often buffeted by external forces, especially city centric policies.  My work to help people de mystify the Barenji Gadjin Land use and settlement agreement across a suite of public meetings in 2023 is a great example.   My involvement with the Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance has led to significant electricity savings for Council, and valuable work to make the planning and consultation for renewable projects better, though there is still much to do here.

In my work at the State and National level as President of the Municipal Association of Victoria, the Pyrenees narrative is central in what Councils do for community and how we can do so much more with additional resources.  This work has led to increased funding for all rural Councils including Pyrenees, which has made a visible difference to both our roads and our community infrastructure.  For us to be a liveable place, this work must continue.