STATE MP Fiona Simpson has urged voters to elect councillors who will work cooperatively with all State and Federal MPs for the sake of the Sunshine Coast regardless of their party politics.
And she said Cr Debbie Blumel was they only councillor who has ever refused to work with her in all her time in politics.
“I pay tribute to Cr Vivien Griffin who is retiring this election as she’s been an excellent local councillor,” Ms Simpson said. “I’ve also worked well with Mayor Bob Abbott and wish him well in retirement.
“However, Cr Blumel told me to my face that she did not want to work with me. I’ve never had a response from her to any correspondence. It’s been very disappointing,” Ms Simpson said.
“I don’t endorse any candidate but I do encourage voters to maximise their vote by allocating full preferences. It’s a worry that the confusion with the number of mayoral candidates could see people just voting 1 and ending up wasting their vote if their first choice doesn’t get up.
“How people vote is their choice. With so many candidates, there is a danger that the vote becomes terribly divided and a candidate could top the poll with as little as 25 per cent of the vote, which means 75% of voters didn’t want them.
“I recommend that people consider allocating full preferences to maximise their chance of getting their most preferred candidate elected and put their least preferred candidate last.”
