Running a team means candidates are commited to council

Two residents have announced as Ipswich’s first team to run in the March 2020 local government elections.

Alyson Lewis and Bill Heck are joining forces to run for Division 3.

TWO residents have announced as Ipswich's first team to run in the March 2020 local government elections.

Bill Heck and Alyson Lewis, under the banner of teamWORK, plan to create jobs through local investment, with a focus on environmentalism and a restoration of faith in local council.

"We're just a couple of ordinary citizens who want to contest for council," Mr Heck said.

"We're going to have our names on the ballot individually. Bill could be elected or I could be elected, but running as a team for the same division means we're already committed to being able to work together and advocate for what Division 3 needs," Ms Lewis said.

"I'd rather hear from the actual residents and hear from what they want and what their concerns are than turn up for community events and have people ask who I am."

Mr Heck claimed with the multi-member model put in place earlier this year, the other seat in the division was a "natural political opponent".

"For the next four years, it'll be back and forth; it just defeats itself. If you have two people that are working as a team already and working for the council, it's a lot better," he said.

teamWORK has already registered with the Queensland Electoral Commission regarding new laws announced in November.

"We're called teamWORK because one of the key things we're looking at jobs in the city for people," Mr Heck said.

"One in eight people who live in Ipswich works in the city, the rest of them work outside the city, so we want more jobs in the city for Ipswich people.

"We want to build and develop business here."

Mr Heck suggested using Firestation 101 as a jumping off point to industrialise recycling from Ipswich's waste facilities.

Ms Lewis said a lot of her goals for the city are family driven.

Mr Heck would also like to gift local Aboriginals the White Rock Conservation Area in favour of a settlement Deebing Creek.

Ms Lewis is at One Mile and Mr Heck is in Booval, covering either end of the division.

 

 

Alyson Lewis and Bill Heck are joining forces to run for Division 3.

 

teamWORK has a long history in the Ipswich region

DIVISION 3 candidates Bill Heck and Alyson Lewis are both Ipswich stalwarts.

Mr Heck was born and bred in Ipswich, attending St Edmunds. He now runs his own media company and lectures at the University of the Sunshine Coast in media. Mr Heck remains a marching reserve soldier in the Australian Army after 18 years of service.

"(After graduating university) I was offered a commission in the Australian Army. I have been deployed five times and hold the rank of major.

"I bring a stoic integrity to the role, a wealth of experience working in management and strategic planning, a fervent empathy for the people of this city, and the belief we all deserve better local government," he said.

Meanwhile, Ms Lewis was a Top of Town trader for six years and said she understood the needs of Division 3 and greater Ipswich residents.

"I now work for a local business in finance and marketing," she said. "For the past three years, I have juggled working and raising my family of three boys with my husband John, while completing a law degree full-time at USQ."

Ms Lewis said components in environmental law and local government law will help her as a candidate.

She is also a declared member of the Australian Labor Party and belongs to the Western Suburbs branch.

She said her branch was unaware of her running and that she will run as an independent.

Mr Heck has no political affiliations.

 

 

Division 3 most popular with candidates despite being smallest

WHILE Division 3 is the smallest division in the reformed Ipswich City Council local government area, it is the most popular with council candidates.

Six candidates have announced their intentions to contest the seat which runs from Dinmore to Leichhardt.

Candidates include James Fazl, a local community crusader and chef, Rochelle Caloon, who will lobby for more attractions and youth employment, Jim Dodrill, a fierce corruption buster and anti-waste campaigner, and Toni Gibbs, a health professional who comes from a political pedigree.

To date, 16 candidates have announced across the four divisions. The election will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2020.

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