By JESSE GRAHAM
HE WAS last week’s election winner and, as of tonight, he will be the official Lyster Ward councillor.
The Mail sat down with councillor-elect Mike Clarke on Tuesday 31 March, after his first day at the Yarra Ranges Council offices in Lilydale came to a close.
Cr Clarke said he had been welcomed by mayor Maria McCarthy and council CEO, Glenn Patterson, and already set up with a new mobile phone for his job, one day after being declared the winner of the ward’s by-election.
The by-election was initiated after previous-councillor, Samantha Dunn, won the Eastern Metropolitan seat in Victoria’s upper house in November’s State Election.
Residents voted on Friday 27 March and Cr Clarke was officially declared the winner on Monday 30 March, with 4632 votes – a lead of 1515 on Greens-endorsed candidate, Kate Gutske.
Cr Clarke told the Mail that he was formerly a member of the Greens party, having been their endorsed candidate for the Yarra Ranges general elections in 2012 for the Streeton Ward and again in last year’s State Election for the seat of Monbulk.
But Ms Gutske was the party’s preselected candidate for the Lyster election, so Cr Clarke had to resign before announcing his candidacy as an Independent.
“The pre-selection selected Kate, and Samantha (Dunn) was keen to support her,” Cr Clarke said.
“That’s fine, that’s their choice.
“But there was a number of other people that asked me to stand as well – other leaders of the community called me out to consider standing.”
Along with this, his environmental interests meant that votes could be consolidated between candidates with similar views – Ms Gutske was Cr Clarke’s third preference as candidate, after himself and Jeff Springfield.
As he was no longer tied to a political party, Cr Clarke could be independent on issues in the area and not forced to toe party lines when it may contradict the community’s needs.
“With a small community, there’s always a full mix of political allegiances and, being a small community, it’s better to be independent and support all interests,” he said.
“I still hold Green’s environmental policies and principles at heart – I’ve had that since the 70s when I did environmental science and it goes way before the Greens even existed – but I want to move strongly to be supportive of all interests.”
“I do need to get to know more about the Liberal Party side of the electorate, and I’m keen to do that.”
An IT consultant and Dandenong Ranges resident for over 35 years, Cr Clarke said there were numerous issues he wanted to advocate on, including public transport and housing affordability.
Cr Clarke will replace Ms Dunn as the council’s representative on the Eastern Transport Coalition, to advocate for better public transport options in the area.
Another idea for his stint in council would be to establish a reference group, Leaders in Lyster, where community members, including the other by-election candidates, could meet monthly to discuss areas of interest in the hills.
“I’d like to have that connection with the community directly, and to be steered and advised and kept informed,” Cr Clarke said.
Cr Clarke will be sworn in as Lyster Ward councillor at tonight’s special Yarra Ranges Council meeting.
All councillors, including Cr Clarke, will stand for re-election in the council’s general elections in October 2016.
