Lismore’s Deputy Mayor, Darlene Cook, has thrown her hat in the ring and will be running again for the local Council election on September 12.

Her decision comes after last week’s Labor party meeting, where candidates interested nominating themselves for local government elections went through a formal preselection process.

“Nominations for candidates in the Labor party have officially opened now and I have renominated to run in this election,” Darlene said. 

“We discussed in the branch meeting who was going to be on the ticket and the order was submitted.”

At the last local council election, Councillor Cook ran as the number two candidate on the Labor party ticket, after Isaac Smith, who ran as the mayoral candidate in the number one position.

Until the formal nomination process is over, everyone in the Labor party is keeping their lips tightly sealed about who will be number one on this year’s Labor ticket.

While it is still unconfirmed, it may be that the current mayor, Isaac Smith, will not be nominating himself again for the next election. 

Cr Cook said the last four years on council “has been challenging, but great”.

“I can see lots of positive stuff coming out over the next 12 months as Council transforms internally,” she said. “It won’t be an easy process, but it will be a big achievement. 

“I’d never been a public person before – I’ve been a farm worker, a factory worker and a bookkeeper,” she said. “This lets me get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself to get out there and do something different.

“We have some exciting times ahead - as long as we don’t flood again. We spend so much time in disaster recovery and response when we flood – like in 2017 – and everything winds to a stop.

“The community is still recovering from its response to disaster – and when it rains again, they feel it.”

As far as the future goes for Cr Cook, she said at the age of 64, she’s happy to be living in a beautiful area in one of the outlying villages.

“I’ve been a rural girl for more than half my life,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere.”