Moore wants town hall

Moore wants town hall

Longstanding Bligh MP Clover Moore wants to add a stint in Town Hall to her r?m? announcing her intention to stand for Lord Mayor in the local government elections in March.
And she plans to take gay guesthouse owner and heritage consultant Phillip Black with her.

Black, who has run a Surry Hills gay bed and breakfast for the past 17 years, is one of the seven candidates who will stand on a Clover Moore independent ticket at the City of Sydney elections on 27 March.

When I moved into Surry Hills 17 years ago Clover was on the City Council then, Black told Sydney Star Observer.

Once she moved over to state politics I found myself really part of the democratic process -“ because of the way she runs things. She holds meetings, issues newsletters, asks for feedback. I’ve really appreciated the work that she has done on that front.

Black decided to stand as a committed member of the gay and lesbian community but said his major strength was the time he had spent fighting for Inner Eastern Sydney’s heritage sites.

She didn’t purposely set out to get a gay or lesbian person on her ticket, but I think the fact that I am -¦ is an added bonus. Being a gay man I come to the campaign with an extra span, that she doesn’t have with anyone else, he said.

Despite Moore’s announcement that she planned to continue working as state member for Bligh if she won the mayoral election, Black said he did not believe she would be spreading herself too thin.

She’s looking at it as an extension of her job. A lot of the issues are duplicate. The gay and lesbian issues of the city are going to be the gay and lesbian issues of the community in Bligh as well.
At a press conference to announce her plan to run, Moore said she was doing so to stop the Labor government making a grab for the city.

I don’t think the city should be handed to the Labor party on a platter and I don’t think the people running the city should be taking their directions from Macquarie St, she said. After deliberations and a few sleepless nights I’ve decided that doing nothing is not an option. A lot of damage can be done to the city and to my electorate in four years.

Moore said she would stand against over-development and for open and accountable governance. And she was prepared for a hard fight.

This is going to be a tough campaign in a traditional Labor constituency and there is very little time. However, I think it’s vital for the future of our city that we put forward our team. Extraordinary circumstances call for an extraordinary response.

The team compiled to take over the city also includes a past president of the Planning Institute of Australia, a member of the Glebe Point Residents Group, a former HIV/AIDS educator and the general manager of the Sydney Aussie Rules Social Club in Kings Cross.

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