FORMER Labor member for the state seats of Buninyong and Ballarat East, Geoff Howard, has said he\u2019s weighing up his options on a run in October\u2019s municipal elections.<\/p>\n
Despite retiring from politics before the 2018 state ballot Mr Howard said he\u2019s kept an eye on local government.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose it\u2019s fair to say I continue to be interested in what\u2019s happening within the City of Ballarat on a number of issues,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough it\u2019s also fair to say that I thought when I retired from state politics in 2018 that I was retiring from public life altogether, but I guess it\u2019ll be a matter of waiting and seeing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact is I don\u2019t miss it. I had a great year last year. I\u2019ve been out of politics for only a year and four months and seriously never thought of standing for public office again.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the other side people have spoken to me, I have experience and I\u2019m certainly interested in what happens in the City of Ballarat and want to see it well managed into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 30-year political veteran, Mr Howard had two stints on Ballarat council last century, including time as mayor between 1993 and 1994, before heading to Spring Street on the back of Steve Bracks\u2019 1999 country crushing of Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett.<\/p>\n
Mr Howard said that his experience across two levels of government was important and he had an idea about what issues were important should he run.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly I learnt a lot of things from my time in local government and State government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in managing local government, good councillors while they take advice from the executive arm of the council, they also need to be in a position to challenge the chief executive officer. You certainly see councillors in the past who haven\u2019t challenged their executive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a number of issues within the City of Ballarat that are important that the city gets right in the years ahead to insure we continue to be a really liveable city, and that we get our planning right as well as our economic management.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Mr Howards candidacy isn\u2019t a sure thing, with a number of considerations before a final decision is made, not least if there\u2019ll even be municipal elections in October<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an issue that I wouldn\u2019t be making a decision on until half-way through the year when we know what the lie of the land is going to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether council elections are taking place, and who the other people who might be standing might be. I\u2019m always happy to step back if I think there\u2019s a good field of candidates that\u2019s available.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FORMER Labor member for the state seats of Buninyong and Ballarat East, Geoff Howard, has said he\u2019s weighing up his options on a run in October\u2019s municipal elections. Despite retiring from politics before the 2018 state ballot Mr Howard said he\u2019s kept an eye on local government. \u201cI suppose it\u2019s fair to say I continue […]<\/p>\n