Election Night

The count for last Saturdays election was held in the Council chambers.Ian Osborne - the returning officer with the assistance of a few council staff members and under the watchful eyes of scrutineers did a great job. For the first time the count was done on the council table with the candidates and public partitioned off in the public gallery. This format added drama to the evening and gave the whole thing that classic election tally room feel - albeit on a small scale . Well done Ian. As the scores came to hand Ian posted running totals on a whiteboard - this again added to the evenings drama.

In Shadforth/Scotsdale there was a 46% turnout which equates to about 777 voters.The results are;

Dawn Pedro 420

John Sampson 533

Peter Mortimer 384

Barbara Marshall 324

Alex Syme 463

In Town there was a 56% turnout which is about 815 voters. The results are;

Colin Payne 234

David Rasterick 197

Kim Barrow 429

Philip Barnes 383

Emanuael Ganser 193




Of note none of the anti Wilson Head wind farm campaigners were elected.

Also former Shire President Kim Barrows who campaigned on a joint ticket with Colin Payne was unable to direct many votes Colins way. Indeed Kims vote itself was low. If Rasterick and Ganser had not run Phil Barnes would have probably polled 200 more votes than Kim!! There is a message in this ... however Im not sure that all councillors recognise it.

Speaking Out

I had planned to blog about the elections however the controversy surrounding Paul Llewellyn's comments ( see Denmark Bulletin no 741 ) and the threats of legal action made by Peter Mortimer,Colin Payne and Barbara Marshall made me think again as I did not want to be seen as throwing fuel on the flames( the electoral commission has found that there is no case to answer). It should also be said that as a Councillor I am sometimes in a tricky position in that there is a code of conduct and I am not allowed to publicly dissent with council decisions. However as I am now a candidate I am allowed to criticise and question council policies. There is now only a week to go before election day and the majority of people who are going to vote have done so already, so I think it is now safe to speak out.