By Ethan Benedicto
With the results of the local council elections soon to be announced, the candidates for Akoonah Ward gathered in Berwick High Street to reflect and show solidarity to one another, and also the local community.
Gathering for lunch at La Baguette on Friday 25 October, the get-together was attended by Mush Rahaman, Samuel Dennison, Scott Dowling and Dianne Pagliuca, with conversations on campaign hurdles, residents’ feedback and general community concerns flooding the table.
For each of the candidates, there is merit for Berwick and the entirety of Akoonah in the character of people who stepped forward and put their hands up to represent the ward.
To Scott Dowling, “it shows how diverse Berwick is, how friendly it is”.
“People love getting out in this city and talking to each other, having a coffee, even competitors can get together and share a chat because we’ve all got the community, at the end of the day, at our heart.
“As a collective, we’re all behind the community, so whoever wins, we’re going to back them regardless.”
Dianne Pagliuca sees the importance of similar meetings, not just between candidates, but between the residents themselves.
“I think it would be amazing if people could continue this conversation outside the election, it would be great to have different inputs and viewpoints,” she said.
“I can only speak on one part, but having different people from different backgrounds, organisations and such, will give you different perspectives.”
Mush Rahaman acknowledged the sense of competition among the candidates, with shoulders rubbed and roughed; but even so, called for those notions to be put aside for the betterment of the people.
“What we need to do now is put everything behind, move forward and with mutual respect, acknowledge one another,” he said.
“Everyone came in here with their priorities and their platform, and each and every single one of these, the community needs, and I can’t come up with all of these by myself.
“If we can all work collectively in the future, that would be amazing and is something we should focus on.”
The sense of togetherness and healthy competition is a factor that Samuel Dennison prides Akoonah Ward on, once again reiterating that the significance of the breadth of candidates, from all walks of life, is something the community should take pride in.
“I think everyone here has worked together, with simply having a chat, and even from early on when we reached out to each other and opened up that communication,” he said.
“We all have the community in mind, we want to do the right thing and we want to make sure we rebuild the trust in council because that’s the most important thing.”
Kushal Shah, who had arrived late but still attended said that “it’s important to be aware that we are all standing for the same community”, not just from the community’s perspectives but from theirs as well.
Although Patrick Ferdinands had not been able to attend, he commended the gathering and appreciated the invitation, saying that “the fact that we’re not at each other’s throats, I think shows that democracy is at work and it doesn’t have to be so hostile”.
“I think the fact that as candidates we can work respectfully in terms of promoting our particular views is great, and whichever candidate is successful, we, the whole community, including myself, wish that person the very best – that person’s success is the community’s success.”
All in all, heads are held high as the candidates ready themselves for the upcoming announcements, and regardless of the outcome, continue to strive to work and support the local Akoonah community.
