By NOEL MURPHY
FORMER Geelong mayor Ed Coppe says he has fielded hundreds of requests to run for his old job again.
“I’m thinking about it but it’s very unlikely,” he said.
“Lots of people have asked me, literally hundreds, everyone I run into but it at this stage it’s unlikely.”
Mr Coppe said he was weighing up family and health considerations – “two big ifs” – but would be well-placed to work with the present council if he nominated.
“I know them all and what they’re trying to achieve, it could be relatively seamless.
“Whoever is elected will need to work with the 12 existing councillors and they have their view on the city’s priorities. They need a new mayor with their shape and colour because the oil tanker has already set its direction and it’s difficult to do a 360.
“That’s probably why some people with experience may be putting their hand up; they know their way around, which is important for the next three years, which, I guess, is also why so many people are saying to me stand.
“As mayor and as G21 chair I’ve met all prime ministers and opposition leaders and premiers and state opposition leaders over the last decade and I know my way around the system.”
Mr Coppe said shortcomings in the directly elected mayor position needed to tackled before the next full council elections in 2016.
He suggested three possible options for conducting the vote but said others could readily apply as well.
The first would vote in the mayor first and then councillors at a later election, allowing time for the new mayor to suggest preferred candidates.
The second was an election for councillors in fewer wards, raising the possibility of a mayor and councillors who might share a closer agenda.
His third option was to give the mayor greater power, with multiple votes.
He considered the third option would be difficult to put into practice.
“I think there’s a very big argument to change the model.”
Ratepayers will spend about $500,000 on a postal by-election after Geelong’s first directly elected mayor Keith Fagg quit in August after less than 10 months in the job.
Nominations open next month, with the winner of the three-year term announced in late November.
