Clear stand

AS A candidate for Four Oaks Ward in the recent City of Casey council elections, I read with more than a little interest the letter of defeated councillor Paul Richardson (Berwick News, 11 December).
Obviously, Paul Richardson cannot bring himself to say the obvious so I will; I take the opportunity to congratulate Shar Balmes and Karen Baxter and the other new councillors on their election.
Residents throughout the municipality have made it clear that they were not happy with the conduct of the previous council and they expressed the concerns through their vote.
The method of voting employed in five of the six wards may be a surprise to some, but it is the form of voting dictated by the Minister for Local Government. (There is proportional representation for multi-member wards and the Balla Balla Ward used preferential voting as there is only one councillor elected from that ward).
If Paul Richardson is concerned, perhaps he should write a letter to the minister as he has done on many occasions in the past calling for the council to be sacked.
I also take the opportunity to publicly acknowledge the almost 40 years combined service to the community of the City of Casey and the former City of Berwick by former councillors Rob Wilson and Mick Morland.
I have known both for over 20 years and I am sure that there would be no wrong in saying that the City of Casey is a far better place to live in because of Rob and Mick.
I am going to miss the usual meaty and hard-hitting discussions Rob and I normally had on whether Geelong or Collingwood should be the AFL teams to go to Casey Fields. (Rob believes that there would be economic depression if Geelong moved one centimetre east of Malop Street; I believe that Collingwood could buy the City of Casey.)
To the new 11 councillors, may I offer this advice – you have been elected not to be a pale imitation of what has passed.
You have been elected to lead; giving yourself a 34 per cent pay rise at your first meeting will not go down well with the electorate at a time of economic slowdown.
I thank most of the candidates in Four Oaks who stuck to the issues and left the dirty campaigning aside which was evident in other wards.
I said most candidates; unfortunately one former councillor took great delight verbally abusing me to residents and lying to the press. You know who you are.
Can I also thank the person who threatened to throw poisoned meat over my back fence to kill our pugs if I did not withdraw from the race.
Thanks, you only spurred me on.
I thank the people of Four Oaks Ward who took the time to listen to a new voice, their trust in voting for me and to the residents of Narre Warren North who rightly feel that they are the forgotten residents in Casey.
Unlike Paul Richardson, I will not and cannot commit myself to standing in 2012; after all it is 1460 days. Let the new council work to see whether they deserve the right to say that they have been a good council unlike the previous one that Paul Richardson was a member of.
Anthony Volpi,
Candidate for Four Oaks Ward,
Narre Warren North.