Melinda Jones encourages naysayers to run for office

A popular North Burnett Regional councillor said she was “surprised and humbled” by the results of a public poll on how the council and its councillors performed in 2022.

DIVISION ONE CANDIDATE: Melinda Jones has announced her candidacy for division one, wanting to be the younger voice on council. Picture: Contributed

In a recent poll readers of the Central and North Burnett Times took the opportunity to have their say on the North Burnett Regional Council.

The council as a whole, and each of the councillors were given a grade of between A (highest) and E (lowest).

The results were tallied, and while the council itself only received an average result, with 51 per cent of readers giving it a C or higher, one councillor stood out as a clear favourite.

Division 1 councillor Melinda Jones proved the most popular, with 78 per cent of voters giving her a C or higher, 63 per cent of those votes grading her an A.

Recently, she took the chance to have her say on the results of the poll and has called on those with negative views to throw their hat in the ring for the next local government election in 2024.

“I do encourage those brave enough to step forward to not promise what you are going to ‘fix’ or change within council but to focus on what you do have control of and the attributes you are going to uphold while in office,” she said.

North Burnett Regional Council chambers in Gayndah. Picture: Sam Turner

“Because at the end of the day that’s really all you have.”

While she was “surprised and humbled” by the result she recognised that sometimes things don’t go as planned for the council as a whole, especially when tight budgets came into play.

“Council staff are committed to their work and strive to ensure they are delivering on decisions of council and on operational business matters, to the best of their ability, within an extremely limited budget and without the resources of many other councils,” she said.

“They don’t always get it right and they don’t always have the resources to do it to the fullest but for the majority, they do.”

The North Burnett council faced many challenges in 2022, and Ms Jones said she strove to remain true to her election promises, which were: lead with integrity, be committed to the region, and empower the community.

“I think this may contribute to the result (of the poll). I keep people informed, I encourage them to have a voice, I strive alongside community for the betterment of the region,” she said.