Community
9 February, 2024
Deputy wants top job
FOUR-year Douglas councillor and deputy mayor Lisa Scomazzon has emerged as a late and, so far, only contender for the mayoral race ahead of nominations closing on Tuesday.
After weeks of silence and no candidates putting their hands up, the Newell Beach business owner officially announced she will be running for the top job aiming to focus on disaster resilience and water and sewage infrastructures.
If elected at the March 16 elections, Cr Scomazzon (above) would replace current mayor Michael Kerr who is not standing again.
“I’ve been a councillor for four years and I was happy to do four more, but I believe that with our current situation in the shire there’s a lot to deal with, and the mayor should be someone who has had a term already,” Cr Scomazzon said.
“I spoke to my other councillors and none of them wanted to take on the role, so I decided to raise my hand for it.”
Cr Scomazzon said she had the experience to tackle the shire’s most pressing issues.
“The main priority is this natural disaster and slowly get through it. With what’s happened it’s quite obvious that a lot of our infrastructure is ageing, in particular water and sewage which need to be pretty much rebuilt, so there has to be talks with state and federal government which is happening,” she said.
“We’ve got major infrastructure issues with our roads, especially near the rivers, so that needs to be constantly worked on.
“One of the biggest things I’ve noticed in the last four years is that people talk about transparency but they aren’t being transparent so I believe that the community should be aware of all the goings in our council, and that’s financials and contracts, because people need to know where their services and rates are being spent.”
Despite tensions within council, especially with Cr Kerr, made public in the last couple of months, Cr Scomazzon said her decision had nothing to do with it and that she was ready to work closely with councillors.
There are currently five candidates running for council with current councillors Roy Zammataro and Abigail Noli looking to be re-elected, while Douglas Shire personality Bill Allison, Port Douglas resident Sara Mulcahy and animal refuge supporter Chris Barber have also thrown their hat in the ring.
