Denise Knight talks about her plans leading up to September elections
Branded a show pony by some in the early days, now Coffs Harbour City Council Mayor Denise Knight is being accused of hiding.
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Branded a show pony by some in the early days, now Coffs Harbour City Council Mayor Denise Knight is being accused of hiding.
With more candidates coming forward for the September 2021 election residents are keen to learn if Cr Knight will run again.
She told the Advocate that she hasn’t made up her mind yet.
“I honestly haven’t decided. It’s too soon.”
Asked when she will be likely to make a decision, she replied:
“Probably by the end of June or early July. That way you’ve still got eight weeks to campaign.
“So that’s the ballpark when I’ll make a decision. There is still a lot of work to be done.”
Over the past 12 months she has borne the brunt of the criticism against the Cultural and Civic Space.
The only other current Cr to put their hand up and say they will definitely be running again is Tegan Swan.
It was more of a bizarre sequence of events than a formal ‘announcement’, with her first stating on breakfast radio she would be on the Rodger Pryce ticket, but then announcing she would be going it alone and running for mayor.
She admitted that everybody probably got a “little bit excited” and that a few more discussions should have taken place before announcements were made.
Cr Swan ran on Cr Knight’s ticket at the last election but they have been on opposite sides of the fence on a number of issues including the Cultural and Civic Space.
She was the Deputy Mayor prior to George Cecato taking on the role in September last year.
Other mayoral candidates that have come forward so far are:
Dean Evers – Mr Evers has worked in the social services sector in Coffs Harbour since 1999.
Back then he was with the Department of Community Services (DOCS) but now heads the local charity Hope for the Homeless.
This month, the Boambee resident is hitting up “30 venues in 30 days” in an effort to gather views from a broad cross-section of people from across the local government area.
Tony Judge – Woolgoolga local Tony Judge announced in February last year that he would be running for Council when the elections were still scheduled to go ahead in September 2020.
Last month he confirmed he will also be putting his hand up for Mayor
It was the Woolgoolga Dam water sell-off plan that finally convinced Tony Judge to run for Coffs Harbour City Council. The former Commonwealth public servant ran as a Labor candidate in the 2019 State election.
Jonathan Cassell – It was expected Mr Cassell would be running on behalf of the Greens, but his official team announcement was timed to coincide with Greens MP Cate Faehrmann’s recent visit to the region.
Mr Cassell ran as a Greens candidate for the seat of Coffs Harbour in the 2019 NSW State elections. Joining him on the Greens team are Tim Nott, Natalie Stevens and Maureen Burgess.
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