Last Friday morning, the Lismore App profiled independent Mayoral and Councillor candidate John Jenkins. At the end of that story, we asked the question when the Steve Krieg ticket will reveal the complete list of candidates for the upcoming September 14 Local Council Elections.

With Steve Krieg, Jeri Hall, Andrew Gordon, Andrew Bing and Electra Jensen confirmed to run again, the Lismore App can confirm that former three-term councillor Gianpiero Battista will stand for council again and will be number six (6) on the Krieg ticket.

When asked why he was running again, Gianpiero replied, "Because I was asked by Steve to run on his ticket. And, when he said to me that I was running on position number six, which I'm happy with, I said yes."

"If I get elected in that position, that means that I'm in a group that has got a majority. My biggest frustration in the last three terms I did was that often I wasn't able to do the things that I wanted to do. Or, whenever I put an idea up, it wasn't appreciated or supported."

"I didn't have the numbers pretty much. Especially in the last term, it was very frustrating. That's why I decided to resign."

"I believe Steve's got a good team now and has the experience of one term. With three terms under my belt, I think I can bring some extra experience to everybody. And if we can get all six of us in, and more, we can then do something really good for Lismore.

"I believe Lismore needs a strong team to enter the next phase of the reconstruction and revitalisation. We don't need a fragmented council at this stage in the life of the city. It would be really bad; we will basically have another four years of nothing."

What would you like to see achieved in the next four years if you are voted in again?

"Well, I would like to see a flourishing Lismore. You know, Lismore deserves to be the flourishing capital of the Northern Rivers like it used to be. Even more.

"My first impression when I came here from Italy in 1994, was what a beautiful place. It reminds me of Tuscany. But, there seems to be this, I don't know, this feeling of negativity over the city, and I think we are at a crossroad now. Hopefully, the new flood study will create an opportunity to eliminate the problem of the floods. At that point, if they do that, and if we are able to convince the government that it needs to be done, then there's no reason why Lismore couldn't be the biggest city sitting in the Northern Rivers with more people, more businesses and better services.

"We've already got the hospital. We don't want to lose any of the services we already have. We have already lost a few services, but we need to get them back and multiply them. So, my job would probably be to make sure that we lobby the government at all levels to make sure that we return to be the capital of the Northern Rivers."

What is the biggest threat we are facing as a city?

"A fragmented leadership. It's all about leadership. If you have strong leadership at the right time in history, you can get things done. The worst thing that could happen in this election would be to have a fragmented, divisive, negative and combative council."

"We've seen what happens when you have that, and I experienced that in my last term, and it was a disaster. It was not good for anyone. It's not good for the city, it's not good for the council, it's not good for the staff and it's not good for anyone that is looking to move here. They see what's happening and they basically don't want to come here."

"That would be the worst thing that could happen at the next election. The second one would be, if we don't do anything about the flood. We need to resolve this issue once and for all, or at least mitigate as much as possible because we can't live with the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. Everybody seems to be freaked out about that report."

"If you're a government, New South Wales or the federal government, it would be very difficult for them and for the the the bureaucrats in Canberra and Sydney too to help someone that's divisive. I've noticed that when I was previously a councillor, whenever we were divided on an issue, no one wanted to support us. Because if you support something that is 50/50, that means that the government is going to support half of the population. No, they want somebody that's united 100% behind the idea, whatever that idea is. If we're all united, 100%, they will come on board and help us.

"Let's work together and try to be united for Lismore. That has always been my mantra when I ran, 'For the Love of Lismore', that was my motto."

While the Krieg ticket has six candidates now, a check on the NSW Electoral Commission's website of Registers of Candidates shows some new names:

• Tara Coles
• Mitchell Dowse
• Christopher King
• Nardia Pidcock and
• Shaen Springall.

Nardia Pidcock was on the Krieg ticket in 2021, Tara Coles is a registered National Party Member, and Shaen Springall is believed to be on the Big Rob ticket.

No doubt there is more to come during the week.

UPDATE:

Big Rob has announced his ticket, in order:

Big Rob Shaen Springall

Luke Tanttari

Christopher Knight

Stella Coleman