by Yvette Brand
The need for teamwork and a more united council was a common message among Baw Baw Shire Council election candidates when they addressed a forum in Warragul on Thursday night.

While acknowledging not all councillors will agree on agenda items, a common theme among the candidates was the need to bring respect and community engagement back to the council chamber.
The forum was hosted by Herd CoWorking and IntraWork at Herd CoWorking. Former Baw Baw Shire councillor Jessica O'Donnell was moderator for the forum.
Sixteen of the 23 candidates attended the forum. Absent were mayor Annemarie McCabe, sitting councillors Tricia Jones and Farhat Firdous, Central Ward candidate Suzanne Allen, East ward candidates Brendan Kingwill and Leni Teng and West Ward candidate Jess Hamilton.
Ms O'Donnell directed questions to candidates relating to their position on economic development and strategies for attracting new industry and employment to the shire to prevent it from becoming a dormitory town.
Ben Lucas said the shire needed to attract major manufacturers to the area.
Danny Goss said council had done a lot of the strategic work but had to get ahead of the game and rezone more land.
Jules Cole said council needed to consider opportunities in renewable energy and eco-tourism, particularly the visitor economy. "We need to think big and think different."
Jackie Shearer said her experience was there were businesses that could not operate in the shire because of delays and problems encountered with the planning department.
"There are so many businesses that would come here but they say they can't do business in Baw Baw. I hear that time and time again," she said.
Adam Sheehan said people's attitudes towards agricultural based industries needed to change.
"We have lost abattoirs and we are still arguing about a saleyards. There are noisy minority groups that object to those industries," he said.
Former Baw Baw Shire councillor Murray Cook said Baw Baw Shire had a problem with community engagement.
He asked how many of the candidates had attended council meetings and sat in the council chamber to "know what you are getting yourself in for."
Rochelle Hine said she had attended meetings and said it was an "incredibly intense environment and a huge demand on councillors to have a full breadth of knowledge of issues."
Ben Lucas acknowledged it was a big job. "If you're going to go into the job and you haven't done the reading then don't do it because you will hamstring everyone there."
Darren Wallace said he believed the move to once a month meetings had been a failure and had broken down the face to face engagement of councillors on a regular basis.
Michael Leaney also said council had become "disjointed" with the once a month meetings and "part of the reason it has broken down."
Each candidate was given three minutes to provide an overview of who they were and what they stood for. This is a snapshot of the candidates:
Central Ward
Denise Azar said she wanted to see more diversity in the chamber. "I think people will benefit from seeing people from different backgrounds and cultures on council."
"I am keen to listen to people and hear their views. It's important people can look to someone for representation...I want to be their champion in council," she said.
Sitting councillor Danny Goss said he was standing again because "there's a lot of work that needs to be done."
He said he had a track record of achievement, one the proudest being overturning the officer's decision to end the Scope lease.
Mr Goss said the PSP review and long term infrastructure plan needed an enormous amount of work.
Paul Pratt said he had always been interested in and passionate about the community.
"We need to look to the future and look at the whole shire and what we want the shire to look like.
"Yes we live in a safe Liberal seat but that is a cop out for not getting funding. Sporting facilities have been neglected for a long time and there are major traffic issues that need to be addressed," he said.
Jackie Shearer said the current council was not performing as it should and was "quite dysfunctional."
"They have lost sight of what they need and that's strong fiscal performance," she said.
Ms Shearer said one of her biggest concerns was planning and she regularly heard from people that it was "hard to do business in Baw Baw."
Rochelle Hine said she was excited about the opportunity to develop the liveability and health and well being of the shire's communities.
She said the shire was diverse in its challenges from the growing pains of Warragul and Drouin to the smaller towns where people were leaving.
"In the council chamber we need to develop a team approach. We need to listen and understand people's position and come to some really great solutions," Dr Hine said.
Jules Cole spoke about recently becoming a footy coach. "What I learnt is you see the passion, you see the diversity and you see what's important to people."
A similar experience on school council also gave Jules the same insights.
"I think trust has broken down between council and our community and we need to repair that trust," they said.
East Ward
With a background in business and progress associations, Adam Sheehan said he was keen to learn more about council and the community he lived in.
He said many small businesses faced difficulties trying to start up and he wanted to help.
"People are unsure about the future and if I can make that a bit easier then I want to help," he said.
Sitting councillor Michael Leaney said Baw Baw was a challenging shire because it was a shire of growth areas and towns that were stagnant or in decline.
He said in his role as chair of the Peri Urban Council of Victoria it was important to keep pushing for funding to ensure Baw Baw Shire did not slip through the cracks.
"The reality of our budget is we are very constrained - we need the help of state and federal funding," he said.
Roy Lindsay said he would bring extensive business management skills to the council table and was truly independent.
"I have seen a real deterioration over the past 18 months and I am seeing the wrong decisions being made for the wrong reasons. We need more community involvement and increased transparency," he said.
Jannette Langley said she would be a voice for the people in the council chamber.
"I am a political junkie but on council I am an independent. It's important to listen to everyone.
"We have the fastest growing shire in country Victoria but the smaller towns are getting left behind."
Kate Wilson said there were many pillars to focus on.
"Our community is incredibly diverse but we are in an economic climate that we can't deliver it all. Council has to be brave and have a strategic position so that the state government will back us," she said.
Sitting councillor Darren Wallace said through his work he knew and understood planning and asset management and was skilled in corporate governance.
"I have sat through eight council budgets so I am skilled in operational and capital works budgets. I am very grounded in my community, My decision making is based around common sense and the feedback I am receiving in the community," he said.
West Ward
Identifying Drouin as a growth area, Maz Byrne said she wanted to stand in the West Ward to "keep busy."
She said a lot of work needed to be done on planning, tightening budgets and future infrastructure works.
"I want to see open and honest communication, I am prepared to work hard, I'm listening and will be your voice on council," she said.
Ben Lucas said he was a grassroots candidate. He said he had served on council previously but had let some personal indiscretions get in the road, forcing him to resign.
"My life revolves around health and fitness and I want to work that into a happier community. We get negative about who we are. We need to practice gratitude for what we have," he said.
Brenda McDermott said she was passionate about culture and diversity. She said she wanted to bring integrity and respect to the council chamber.
"Collaboration has been missing - it's time to bring our skill sets together," she said.
Michael Fozard, a former Baw Baw Shire and Buln Buln councillor, spoke about his affiliating with the West Ward as a former Labertouche resident.
He spoke about his council and community work in the shire and his desire to represent the community as a voice on council.