Battling for Town Hall
Shayne Mallard, Liberal
City of Sydney councillor
Former South Sydney councillor
Lord mayoral candidate Shayne Mallard says he is running against ‘a gaggle of left wing candidates’.
‘I’m representing the middle and the right. We’re targeting three seats. We want Clover to have to deal with the Greens, us and Labor.’
Cr Mallard claims Clover Moore is running down the city’s cash reserves.
‘By the end of the next Council term, cash reserves will have been run down by a net $261.6 million or 64 per cent. That is a cash deficit of $180,000 every day over the next four years or equivalent to a brand new top of the range Mercedes every single day,’ he said.
‘She’ll retire and leave Sydney with hardly any reserves ‘ there’ll be no money left for George Street or Town Hall Square. They’ll have to borrow for those projects in 2011.
‘She’s spending the money because it’s there but that’s not responsible. While those projects ‘ including the Surry Hills library ($23 million) and the Town Hall ($60 million) ‘ are worthwhile, they should have been spread over two terms.’
He points out that in the past year alone Cr Moore has added an extra 203 staff, and staff costs are up 14 per cent from $105 million in 2005 to a projected $163.5 million in 2011.
‘That’s a 56% increase in staff costs in just six years.’
Cr Mallard has also spoken out against what he regards as the use of council resources for campaigning.
‘Clover’s newsletters are all electioneering. It’s a very uneven playing field,’ he said.
Number 2 on ticket: Edward Mandla
