I’m Steve Krieg, and I am running to become your next Mayor of Lismore.

I love living here, but like you, I know we need to change our Council. We need a Council that gets back to the work of fixing our roads, managing your rates and bringing jobs to our town – that’s what a good council should do!

I have put together a group of local business and community leaders who are ready to serve alongside me on Council.

We live in a beautiful part of the world and there is so much potential for our region.

Through my career as a school teacher and as the owner of La Baracca, I understand the needs of our businesses and families. We all just want to be supported by a Council that gets the basics right.

Together, we have faced many challenges as a community, and with the right team our town and villages can prosper into the future. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, so I need your support to make this change happen.

What is your vision for Lismore over the next 3 years?

We need a Council that gets back to the work of fixing our roads, managing our rates and bringing jobs to our town – that’s what a good council should do. My vision is to present a fresh alternative for the constituents of Lismore and its villages.

I have put together a group of local business and community leaders who are ready to serve on council. We are a passionate, diverse representation of this area, and our priority is to return Lismore to being the regional hub of the Northern Rivers.

What are your objectives being a councillor?

Together with my team, we will focus on getting the basics right (roads, rates and rubbish), whilst also ensuring Council manages our money, creates civic pride, and sustainably builds for the future.

Some of our local priorities include:

·      Road repair and maintenance 

·      Developing and implementing a strategy to improve our CBD

·      Actively pursuing major events to our city to provide experiences for our community and encourage growth in the local economy

·      Bring back investment in our town by encouraging new industries 

·      Allow for residential growth to provide homes for families

·      Properly consider real flood mitigation 

·      Minimisation of economic waste 

·      Streamlining management procedures and reduce “red tape” 

·      Diversifying income streams 

If Lismore City Council has sensible leadership and management, we can return to being the driver of our local economy, and our city and surrounding villages can invest in a sustainable, thriving, community-based future.

What was your motivation to become a councillor?

I have had my CBD business for the last thirteen years. I chose Lismore over other communities because we are the hub of the Northern Rivers. However, over that time I have seen Ballina’s population overtake Lismore, Casino thriving and Lismore sadly stagnating.

This is not due to unwillingness of investment, or opportunity, or desire, it is due to political infighting in council that seems to sabotage its own constituency. Our basic services have wavered (tip passes and open days, for example), our road network is declining daily, and our current councils mantra is to hit ratepayers with increased rates.

I believe there has to be a better way. I believe that there must be change. Together with my team, we are the change.

How does Lismore become a vibrant, prosperous city?

If Lismore City Council has sensible leadership and management, we can cement ourselves as the hub of the Northern Rivers.

We need to bring back investment in our town, so we can reinvest it into our city. Organisations that want to invest in Lismore need to be encouraged, with processes simplified and streamlined to ensure successful outcomes. There have been too many examples where we have missed opportunities.

Currently, there is no continuity or consistency with the design of the CBD. In conjunction with CBD landlords, a complete makeover of the city centre would lift the profile, and encourage investment, driving our local economy.

Do you hold any concerns for the region that has not been addressed?

Lismore has fallen behind under the direction of our current Council. There have been many bad decisions that can impact the future of our region - knocking back the Lismore Square expansion, denying more homes for families by rejecting housing development, failing to fix our roads, withdrawing support for the Dunoon Dam before it was finished being investigated, and the lack of planning to flood-proof our town.