Lismore City Mayor Steve Krieg today launched his re-election campaign for the upcoming local government elections on September 14.

Mayor Krieg announced an eleven (11) person ticket, the first six already being declared. The other five (5) are Nardia Pidcock, Chris King, Tara Coles, Mitch Dowse and Richelle Weekes.

Below is the full Steve Krieg ticket for the 2024 local government election and a little about each person:

·      Steve Krieg – Current Mayor and small business owner (La Baracca)

·      Jeri Hall – Current Councillor and small business owner (Halls Bus Co)

·      Andrew Gordon – Current Councillor and local real estate agent (R Gordon & Son)

·      Electra Jensen – Current Councillor with extensive experience in business

·      Andrew Bing – Current Councillor and Service Manager at Lismore Nissan & Kia

·      Gianpiero Battista – Former Councillor

·      Nardia Pidcock – small business owner and operator

·      Chris King – local employment adviser

·      Tara Coles – 2023 Lismore Young Woman winner and local mortgage broker

·      Mitch Dowse – local builder and community advocate

·      Richelle Weekes – local nurse and theatre manager at Lismore Base Hospital

(The Krieg ticket for September's 2024 Lismore Council Election. Photo: supplied)

"We've got eleven outstanding candidates, and it gives me great delight to announce that Steve Krieg and team will be standing for the 2024 local government elections," he said in front of the Tinnie Army earlier this afternoon.

Mayor Krieg was on his own for the announcement, " Obviously, we're in the middle of the day at the moment, and all of our team work for a living, which is why I'm here by myself."

"But it's really good to be in the heart of the CBD in front of the Tinnie mural, which has really shaped the last two and a half years of our local government term. And, it's fitting for me to stand here and announce that we are officially running, and we are running eleven candidates, because there's eleven seats on council. We want to get as many of those seats as we can to really continue the work that we've started over the last two and a half years."

When Steve Krieg was voted in as Mayor of Lismore with 54% of the primary vote, he and his fellow ten councillors barely got their feet under the desk when the city was devastated by the February 28 2022 flood.

"It's been a massive challenge for the Lismore LGA, we've made some incredible inroads. It's probably, still to this day, the most talked about local government in Australia, post the disaster, and it's really important that this council recognises the strength and the stability that my team and myself can bring to the Lismore LGA.

"It's something that I certainly don't take for granted. It's something that I remain as humble about as I possibly can, but it is an extreme honour to be the Mayor of Lismore City Council, and I hope that the people of the Lismore LGA give myself and my team the opportunity to continue to work for them to rebuild and recover the way that we deserve to."

Does Mayor Krieg believe it is realistic to get all eleven people onto council?

"I'd never take anything for granted, especially dealing with elections. I'm no political analyst, but I would hope that we can at least retain the seats that we won in the last election and potentially build on that. What Lismore really needs, and what I really want to emphasise, is that message of stability. Lismore has had a very tumultuous decade in local government. We know by the number of general managers we've had, the number of mayors that we've had over the last decade has really created an air of uncertainty.

"What we are bringing to this town and to this reconstruction effort is stability and strength. We are prepared to fight for our community all the way to Canberra and further. I think it's really important to give us the opportunity to continue the work that we've started. We are only at the start, and the next four years are going to be the most critical four years in Lismore's history, as far as recovery and reconstruction goes.

What has council achieved in the last two and a half years since the big flood?

"I think big picture, we've literally created a whole new state government organisation through the Reconstruction Authority. That wasn't in place before the 2022 floods, and due to the need and the consistent and constant lobbying of myself and my group of councillors, we've created the Reconstruction Authority. Queensland have had it since 2011, we're miles behind the rest of the country in that respect, but now we've got that organisation in place, and in large part to the work that Lismore City Council staff and councillors have done to create that authority.

"We've also changed the way that governments fund disaster recovery. When the 2022 disaster hit, Lismore was still owed $5 million from the 2017 flood. Now, the governments are paying up front. They're paying it forward if you like, and that's something that's never happened in New South Wales before. That's something that I'm really proud of, that our new executive staff, and myself, and and my team of Councillors have been able to change the way that disaster recovery funding is rolled out. That's bigger picture.

"We've also been granted the biggest disaster recovery funding payment in Australia's history. The first round of our disaster recovery funding totals $860 million, and we've secured that, and we've secured that to be paid forward. That means that Lismore Council's cash flow and debt levels are not in jeopardy so that Lismore can stay financially viable.

"Some of the other things that we've done locally, we are working tirelessly behind the scenes to get our council in a financially viable position. For the first time in more than a decade, Council's got a long term financial plan. We have goals and a direction of where we want to be. We've operated in the past on a $60 million operating deficit. In two years, we're going to be operating on a surplus. First time in living memory that that's ever happened.

"We've got goals and targets that we've set internally, that we are matching and we're meeting. And it's really exciting that Lismore City Council, in the next two to four years can be a stand-alone model of what councils can achieve despite living through Australia's most costly natural disaster."

During the 2021 Local Council Election, the Krieg Team preferenced Big Rob. Will that be the case in 2024?

"In 2021, I'm the first to admit that I was very naive going into this job. 2024 is a totally different scenario. It's been made abundantly clear to me that because we are running as a team of independents, that no political party wants to preference us, and that's fine. We want to stand on our own two feet. We want the people of Lismore to decide who they want to guide Lismore City Council in the direction of their city and their LGA and where they want it to be into the future.

"I don't see preferences playing a major role in this election. It's a pretty clear message from us to the voters of Lismore that we want you to Vote 1 Steve Krieg, and that will guide the future of Lismore in the right direction, in a strong direction, and in the way that Lismore deserves to be heading through strong advocacy, strong leadership that we've had to be a part of over the last two and a half years. But we're on the right track, and we're heading to a very bright future."

The Lismore City Council elections will be held in five weeks on Saturday, September 14.

Nominations for candidates close next Wednesday, August 14 at 12 midday. The ballot paper draw will then take place next Thursday, August 15.