Ben Shields, Mathew Dickerson: Ex-Dubbo mayors contesting council election

Former Dubbo mayors Ben Shields and Mathew Dickerson have announced they will both contest the upcoming local government elections after the council became mired in controversy.

High-profile former Dubbo mayors Ben Shields and Mathew Dickerson have announced their desires to make comebacks and contest the December 4 council elections.

Mr Dickerson previously served as mayor of the old Dubbo City Council before it was amalgamated with Wellington Shire Council in 2016.

Former Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson announces his plan to contest the 2021 council election. Picture: Ryan Young

After serving as Mr Dickerson’s deputy, Mr Shields became mayor of the new Dubbo Regional Council after the 2017 elections.

He resigned from council in May after a tumultuous two months which saw a majority of councillors call on him to stand down. The councillors also requested a report into the council, about complaints, allegations and suggestions of misconduct brought to the attention of council staff but not investigated through code of conduct processes.

A redacted version of an independent investigation into the council‘s handling of complaints showed the council had inappropriate dealt with complaints, however there was no blame apportioned to any individual councillor or staff member.

Following the dramatic demand to resign from fellow councillors, Mr Shields revealed he attempted to take his own life and spent weeks in hospital recovering after he was placed into an induced coma and became seriously ill.

Former Dubbo mayor Ben Shields said he wants to get the Dubbo region “back on track”. Picture: Toby Zerna

After returning to the top job briefly, Mr Shields made calls for Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock to sack the council because of infighting.

Following Mr Shields’s resignation, his political ally Dayne Gumley also quit after seeing part of the independent investigation report.

“We are the council, the community sees us as the council, these things occurred under our watch and we have to take some level of responsibility for it and show the community it’s not just a matter of ‘not my fault blame someone else’,” Mr Gumley said afterwards.

On Friday Mr Gumley was announced as one of five candidates who will contest the upcoming election under the Ben Shields Team banner.

Voters will elect 10 councillors to represent them on Dubbo Regional Council on December 4. Picture: Ryan Young

Announcing his comeback plan on Facebook, Mr Shields said he would run a “positive campaign … from start to finish”.

“Over the last six months, genuine enthusiasm has been lacking from your council and it shows,” Mr Shields told voters.

“I’m running for council to get the Dubbo region back on track … to return the enthusiasm and energy to our region that is desperately needed in order to continue our growth.

“When I was mayor we had record state and federal government funding coming into our area, that has effectively dried up. We had new businesses being announced for Dubbo … I was holding our local members to account and our governments to account to make sure that Dubbo is never ignored.”

Mr Dickerson said he was standing for election to restore trust in council after the community and staff had lost faith.

“The first thing we’ve got to do is we’ve got to get the community to trust the group of councillors, to trust...council and we’ve got to get staff performing at their best,” Mr Dickerson said.

“ You can’t perform at your best when you don’t have confidence in the ... council.

“My job will be to make sure the community trusts what’s their with council, to make sure we’ve got strong leadership, make sure we’ve got good experience and good integrity.”

Despite previously saying he would not contest the election and being a vocal critic of the amalgamation which led to the formation of Dubbo Regional Council, Mr Dickerson said he had come to accept there was no going back and he had spent more time reconsidering his position after elections were delayed due to Covid.

“In life you’ve got to deal with what’s in front of you, we’ve got an amalgamated council and we’ve got to make it work the best way we can.

“I welcome as many people to stand as possible … the more candidates the better, this is a democracy.”

As Mr Dickerson announced his comeback plan, another former mayor, Alan Smith, watched on in support.

“I’ll endorse anyone who is prepared to have the community in their heart and not self interest in their heart and who is prepared to be a free self thinker on behalf of the community and not be told what to do by one single individual or a group of individuals,” Mr Smith said.

“Mathew and I didn’t always see eye-to-eye when I was on council, nor should we. He always respected my view and I respected his view. I’m supporting Mathew because I know he’s honest, he’s reliable, I’ve seen his performances.”

Former Dubbo mayor Alan Smith says he was "gutted" at the state of the current council which has become engulfed in scandal. Picture: Ryan Young

Mr Smith said he was saddened to see the council engulfed in a series of scandals, which have included the imposition of a performance improvement order from the NSW Government.

“For someone that was there for 25 years, it’s a horrible thing to say but I feel gutted,” he said.

“To see what happened to an organisation that you’ve put so much of your life into … it actually guts you.

“And then to see what it does to the community drives a further nail in the coffin.”

Supporters of Mr Shields took to Facebook to welcome his announcement.

Natalie White said “you are for Dubbo and what the residents actually want”.

Donna Pearson said Mr Shields had her vote as well.

“Fantastic to see you as always loyal, honest, caring and up most dedicated to Dubbo,” she posted on Facebook.

Mr Shields and Mr Dickerson will stand for election in the Dubbo Central Ward where voters will elect two councillors.