Ian Tiley has confirmed he will nominate for the position of mayor.
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“I believe that I have the best credentials for that particular role, particularly at this time coming out of administration with most of the new councillors not having any experience in local government,” the Armidale Regional Council administrator, and councillor-elect, said.
“My hope is to be able to lead a team and help make it a really great team of councillors to serve the people that put us in there.
“That’s up to the other ten councillors, I’m aware that others are wanting to be mayor so we’ll just have to watch this space I guess.”
The administrator was the only Council candidate that did not campaign for a seat at the table.
Still, he leads in the polls by 236 votes.
While the Council is in caretaker mode, Dr Tiley said he felt he should not bid for a position.
“I took the high moral ground so to speak,” he said.
“I’ve no doubt that cost me votes.
“That tells me that at least some of the people were happy with what I tried to do over the 16 months of administration.”
With 54 years experience in local government, two terms of mayorship and nine state and Commonwealth ministerial appointments, Dr Tiley feels he is the right man for the job.
If the other 10 councillors will have him, of course.
Having made decisions for the entire region by himself for the last 16 months, Dr Tiley said he would welcome healthy debate by his fellow councillors.
“Civic leadership is a role where you nurture the various interests on Council,” he said.
“You help get the best quality decisions made, and I’ve got heaps of experience in that regard and I’d like to bring that to the table if my colleagues wish.”
Final polling results are predicted to be in by Saturday.