Orange City Council has announced the first in a series of prospective Councillor Workshops as the local government elections approach.
Local government elections are just over six months away with everyone enrolled to vote required to head to the polls on September 4 to elect 11 councillors and mayor.
To help Orange residents decide whether they'd like to stand for election on Orange City Council, and to help them understand the election process, Council is running a series of workshops.
The first workshop is on Thursday, March 11, 2021, 6pm to 9pm in the Orange City Council Chamber.
Orange Mayor Reg Kidd is encouraging anyone who may have an interest in running for Orange City Council in the upcoming election to attend.
"It's a really informative session where you'll hear about what's expected from a councillor and a mayor on a day-to-day basis," he said.
"The process for nominating to run for Council will also be explained and there will be ample opportunities for a range of questions and answers."
Local Government NSW facilitator and former mayor of Leichardt Council, Maire Sheehan will run the first half of the workshop covering topics such as legislated responsibilities of candidates and councillors, the election process and the rules around campaigning.
The second half of the workshop will be a forum with a panel consisting of Orange City Council's CEO David Waddell and two councillors.
The second candidates' workshop is being run by the Australian Local Government Women's Association Session (ALGWA), and is specifically targeted at women who may be interested in running for election on Orange City Council.
The session on March 13, from 10am to 3pm in the Orange City Council Chamber, will consist of a panel of female councillors from across NSW. The panel members include Orange City Councillor Joanne McRae, Lithgow City Councillor Cass Coleman, former Muswellbrook Councillor Jennifer Lecky and former Mosman mayor Denise Wilton.
The panel will discuss the practicalities around what it's like to run for election and become elected, in a society where less than a third of local councillors and mayors are women.
ALGWA hosted a forum last year in the Orange Civic Theatre foyer, before the 2020 election was postponed, and it was attended by about 40 women.
These sessions will be repeated on April 29 and on Saturday May 1 respectively, for anyone unable to attend the first sessions.
