Filling a casual vacancy for Councillor

Today, at a Special Council Meeting, the City of Gold Coast made the decision to appoint Mrs Shelley Curtis to fill the casual vacancy left by Cameron Caldwell after being elected to Federal Parliament for the seat of Fadden. Cr Curtis will serve in the role at least until she contests the 2024 #localgovernment election on March 16 next year.

Councillors were provided with material relating to 17 applicants, all of whom should be commended for putting their names forward. #Community leadership is a tough gig many days, and the first step is volunteering yourself to be considered.

A few people have asked how I came to the decision to support Shelley, in the context of the 17 applications received.

I first reviewed the professional experience of the candidates based on the CVs & resumes they provided. I was looking for a candidate with "people leadership" experience, a good communicator, and I probably favoured industry work connected to the #GoldCoast in some form. Many candidates met this criteria.

I next considered the community involvement and volunteerism of the candidates. I thought the candidate should have been involved in #volunteering over some years perhaps in a variety of different capacities, whether school, sport, politics or recreational groups. Quite a few candidates met this criteria.

Then there was the element of community support. Several candidates included testimonials or letters of support from members of their community who knew them, and I read all these and considered them carefully.

Finally, there was an "x factor" element I had regard for. This was related to a mix of things; their recent attendance at council or committee meetings to observe, their public profile or their related interests, their completion of the "So you want to be a Councillor?" training provided by Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning , or their previous political candidacies and alignment. At this stage I had regard for two applications that did not appear to conform to the submission requests, either missing the deadline fractionally or not including requested but relevant material. That reduced the number to 15.

I shortlisted the list from 15 to 5 preferred candidates, based on the above themes and then narrowed those 5 to a favoured candidate. Councillors were not provided information in advance about the process the Mayor intended to use to make the decision but, in the end, the Mayor simply asked us to name our single favoured candidate and did not invite debate. I had prepared a few words about the candidates and my process, but there was not really any opportunity to speak on that.

When Mayor Tate asked for my singular favoured candidate, I named Shelley Curtis, and so did 11 of my Councillor colleagues. It was resolved by council that she be appointed, and sworn in as Cr Curtis, which I anticipate will be completed later today, or perhaps Monday.

I should say, many of the candidates had exemplary experience and suitable community support. No doubt some may choose to contest the next election and I would commend them for doing so, if they nominate.