Mandurah City councillor Peter Jackson has announced he is running for Mayor in the upcoming local government elections and outlined an agenda he said would instill confidence within the community and give a voice to those who aren’t always heard.
“Mandurah is doing a lot of things really, really well and, yes, we take some things for granted, but we have a lot of expertise in the city,” he said.
“We’ve got a real heart in the city.
“What I do see is that some parts of our community are hurting.”
Mr Jackson said the solutions to the City’s challenges had to be found within the community.
“We have good people here, people who are committed and want to contribute but sometimes they don’t always feel like they have a voice or a place to be heard,” he said.
“The philosophy I bring is the same as I brought to things like the Mandurah Liquor Accord, and some of the other council committees and boards I’m on; first, listen to what the issues are and to the heart of what people are saying.”
The local radio broadcaster and teacher also has two grandchildren and five children, the youngest being his eight-year-old son.
Mr Jackson said he understood the demands of representing the community on council and would bring his family, especially his wife Estelle, along for the journey if he was elected mayor.
“It’s not a job that you do during certain hours,” he said.
“We decided that if we were going to do this, it would require us to all be on board.
“We believe in the greater good, we’re here to contribute and we want to do that.”
Mr Jackson said he would support the installation of the Falcon shark barrier.
“If you’ve got the opportunity to protect people, even from that one in a million chance, if you’re that one in a million then that’s a big deal,” he said.
“State government has made some money available, there’s a council process we need to go through for good and proper governance, which I fully appreciate, and whatever the outcome of that is, I think will be the best for the community.”
On the Lakelands train station, Mr Jackson said if he was elected Mayor he would make a decision in the interests of the entire City of Mandurah, stopping short of unqualified support for the project.
“If elected, I’m still only one of a 12 member council, so whether I did or didn’t want that, it still goes through the process and still there’s a democratic system in place,” he said.
“That’s to ensure best outcomes for the community from the perspective of everyone that lives here, because although Lakelands is a growing and emerging area, we’ve still got people who live in Wannanup and Dawesville and really it has no relevance to them other than it might be an extra stop on the way.”
Polls for local government elections close at 6pm, Saturday, October 21, 2017.