A full list of candidates and their statements can be viewed on the VEC website here.
The voting suggestions in this report are informed by my strong belief that elected councillors should find ways to work together, in the community interest, for a strong and progressive council. I am making only a few suggestions per ward, plus my view on who to put last. Because there have not been enough candidate forums this report is not as informed as it could be and may be subject to change.
The list of suggestions is below the overview in this order: Northern Wards, Central Wards, Southern Wards. Remember to number every box!
Scroll to the end of this post for a list of candidate surveys, scorecards and pledges.
Darebin Council election overview
Labor has formally endorsed its candidates, thanks to sustained community lobbying. Its candidates will now be far more accountable to the party. This decision has sidelined two incumbent councillors and opened the field to more contenders. Unlike previous elections, there appear to be fewer feeder candidates—individuals whose main purpose for running is to direct votes to another candidate. Most of those who are feeders this time around at least have a bona fide interest in the workings of Council.
However, in a concerning new development, the Greens, Labor, and the Victorian Socialists have fielded a full slate of candidates across the wards, some of whom seem to be there merely to complete the ticket. In many cases, there is little evidence of active campaigning. This suggests that the parties consider the outcome in some wards a foregone conclusion. While this doesn’t necessarily indicate that if elected these councillors will be ineffective; it does reflect a lower level of engagement. A vote for these candidates is a vote for their party's agenda.
The balance of power in this election is likely to be decided in the centre of the municipality and this is where the wards are being most hotly contested.
I suggest that three incumbent councillors (Crs Greco, Laurence and Dimitriadis) be put last due to their poor behaviour on Council which you can read about in detail in my January 2024 article, Should Darebin Council be Sacked? See especially the video and transcript at the end to see them in action.
Overall the most disappointing thing about this election has been the lack of deep campaigning by many candidates and the lack of opportunities for the community to engage with them. Only Darebin Climate Action Now held an online candidate forum, and Bridge Darebin was forced to cancel its two forums over a controversy about who was/wasn't asked to speak.
There are many people standing who have little engagement with the municipality or who make such impractical promises that I cannot recommend them. With a few notable exceptions it's been a case of campaigning by photo-op. Some candidates seem to have discovered the community for the first time in their lives and keep posting up inane and condescending comments about the wonderful work done by this or that organisation. They really need to stop using people and their organisations as election props!
You may notice that I haven't suggested voting for any Victorian Socialist candidates. They are a protest party and have shown little inclination to engage with local issues between election campaigns. The only local issue that they have consistently bought into is Save Preston Market. Even if they could convince the State Government to compulsorily acquire a private commercial market with an estimated value of over $100million (it sold for $36million in 2004) it is contrary to socialist values to seek to do so rather than have that money directed into public housing or important community services. In short, I read their election pitch as populist which is the last thing we need for our council.
Voting Suggestions
North West Ward
(1 vacancy, 4 candidates)
Vote [1] Patchouli Paterson (Greens). In my opinion, she is the only one of three contesting candidates with sufficient profile to beat Cr Greco. Patchouli stood for the State seat of Preston and won 15.12% of the primary vote vs Cr Greco's 13.73%.
Put last: Cr Gaetano Greco (Independent). Incumbent councillor. He delays meetings with unnecessary points of order, is populist in his approach, and has not achieved a lot of concrete results for the North of Darebin despite his claims to the contrary. It's time for a fresh start.
North East Ward
(1 vacancy, 6 candidates)
The following candidates are worth considering:
Matt Arturi (Labor) - Matt works for a respected labour law firm which, in itself, would suggest that he has a useful skillset to bring to Council. He is the candidate in this ward who is most likely to be able to beat the incumbent and is running on his party's pitch to get back to basic service delivery and good governance. He has lived in and around the area for 20 years.
Kim Ly Nguyen (Independent) - has a good campaign website and some interesting positions around youth, diversity, gender equity and community involvement (she preferences the Greens candidate, Nina Laitala, on her VEC statement).
Put last: Incumbent councillor, Tim Laurence (Independent - formerly Labor) who has, once again, been a divisive figure throughout his term on council and did not gain the endorsement of the Labor Party. He has six substantiated allegations of misconduct against him in one internal arbitration and two substantiated allegations of misconduct in another. Cr Laurence failed to turn up to 57% of a possible 65 council briefing sessions. He is also making campaign promises that are financially irresponsible and it is highly unlikely that he would be able to deliver on them.
North Central Ward
(1 vacancy, 7 candidates)
Vote [1]: Carmen Lahiff-Jenkins (Independent - formerly Reason). Carmen would be an enormously valuable councillor given her progressive values, deep community networks, and her capacity to provide practical support for people in Darebin. She has door knocked thousands of homes in the course of her campaign and is already linking people to services. As an independent she could be an important circuit breaker on the dominance of the Greens and Labor on council. (Disclosure: Carmen has become a personal friend since the last election.)
Put last: Vasilios Tsalkos (Labor). During the 2020 Darebin Council election Vasilios ran as an independent. Over the years he has made hostile online remarks about various Greens Councillors, rather than sticking to criticising differences in policy. This is not good enough when the community is desperate for a cooperative council. Hamish Kemp (Independent), a candidate with hardly any profile, has used his VEC statement to direct preferences to Vasilos.
West Ward
(1 vacancy, 6 candidates)
Vote [1] for current Mayor, Susanne Newton (Greens). An experienced councillor who works hard for a cooperative Council. It would be useful to retain her experience on Council.
Put last: Brian Sanaghan (Independent) for, “unruly, belligerent and disrespectful behaviour” as an observer at Council meetings (3 July 2017, MINUTE NO. 17-243). After repeated infractions he was banned for several years from the public gallery. There's nothing to suggest that his attitudes have changed from the time he called the sitting Mayor a "princess" and opposed the flying of the Rainbow flag on the council building. He did not take the Rainbow Local Government pledge.
Central Ward
(1 vacancy, 8 candidates)
There are a lot of good candidates in this ward because it is likely to determine the swing vote or majority on Council.
Kristine Olaris (Labor) comes with a great deal of governance experience and is the strongest candidate for the Labor Party. She has worked in community legal, health and women's services and would bring valuable perspectives to the municipality. She has a background in the impact of climate change on public health. I've spoken with her and she comes across as collaborative and not likely to tolerate any bad behaviour on Council.
Alexander Taylor (Independent) has a very thoughtful and consultative platform, and he doesn't over promise. It's great to see him advocating for an upgrade to the very dated Preston Library, and beautification of High Street which badly needs it. He seems like someone who would be willing to be hands on in the councillor role.
Courtney May (Greens) is pitching for a more liveable city and her candidate information has a consultative vibe. She knows that proposed intensive development in the area is a big ticket issue for residents.
Put last: No recommendation.
South West Ward
(1 vacancy, 3 candidates)
I met Alex and Kate for the first time at the Darebin Climate Action Now candidates forum.
This ward was previously held by Trent McCarthy (Greens) who decided not to re-contest the election this year. In his place the Greens have stood Alexandra Sangster, who has very strong community credentials and could win the ward based on demographics alone.
However, I'd like to give a shoutout to the Labor candidate Kate Polglaze: she gave savvy answers to questions and performed better than Labor candidates in other wards on climate change issues. She also gave her responses strictly within time limits; if you have ever suffered through a typical Darebin Council meeting you'll understand why this matters! She represents a new generation of young people who value diversity and are inclusive.
South Central Ward
(1 vacancy, 3 candidates)
Vote [1]: Ruth Jelley (Greens). Ruth is a leading member of Streets Alive Darebin. For years I have seen Ruth at Darebin Council meetings diligently asking questions about matters that will make our city more liveable (see the Darebin Council minutes). Ruth will bring a great deal of governance experience to the role which she has developed as an elected union leader in the NTEU. Ruth has the support of former Mayor Susan Rennie, incumbent in this ward, for her campaign. (Disclosure: I work for NTEU but Ruth is not a supervisor of staff.)
Liz Landry (Labor) and Carmel Davies (Independent) are both progressive candidates who care about community issues but they don't have the same record of direct Darebin Council engagement as Ruth.
There was a candidate from Victorian Socialists who was supposed to be standing but she was retired from the Darebin Council election by the VEC for failing to complete required candidate training. Candidates had to declare that they completed their training on the nomination forms.
South East Ward
(1 vacancy, 9 candidates)
Vote [1]: Melanie Thewlis (Greens) is a software engineer who works for the City of Melbourne. Having someone on Darebin Council who has insight into how councils work, and the capacity to understand the technology that it just bought (some $36 million spent on IT systems) could be very helpful. She is advocating for a liveable city, is community focused and comes across as collaborative. Melanie is preferenced by former Mayor Susan Rennie (Independent) who has switched wards to throw her weight behind this candidate.
Put last: Emily Dimitriadis (Labor). I'm astonished that the Labor Party chose to endorse a candidate with six substantiated instances of misconduct as found by an independent arbitrator. She was required to deliver six separate, unreserved public apologies for her behaviour (see page 46 of the determination). Darebin deserves better. Emily is preferenced by Caroline Lunt (Independent) in her VEC statement.
South Ward
(1 vacancy, 3 candidates)
Melentie Pandilovski (Labor) has an impressive CV in the arts and cultural industries. In his campaign statement he points out various times that Darebin Council has squandered large amounts of money that should have been invested in community projects. It would be good to have someone on Council who has an eye for such budget matters.
Julie O'Brien (Greens) has a focus on sustainability. She wants to tackle climate issues, to support local businesses to reduce emissions, and preserve green spaces like the Merri Creek, Darebin Parklands and Darebin Creek.
Put last: No recommendation
Candidate scorecards, surveys and pledges:
Scorecards
Save Preston Market Action Group
(Ranks people lower if they don't agree with compulsory acquisition).
Surveys
Pledges
About me...
The reason I started blogging about Darebin Council is published here.
I was interviewed by Rachael Dexter about the problems with Darebin Council in this article titled: Sacked and under scrutiny: What's behind Victoria's council chaos? The Age, 8 June 2024. (Behind the paywall)
Authorised by Serena O’Meley, PO Box 165, Reservoir VIC 3073
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