UPDATE: Four additional candidates nominated just in time to make it onto the ballot papers.
There are now 13 candidates in Silverleaf Ward, with Suresh Shanmugam and repeat candidate and environment campaigner Geraldine Gonsalvez joining the list.
In Red Gum Ward, disability advocate and former Greater Dandenong councillor Sharon King Harris put up her hand, alongside Gagandeep Singh, who shares the same name as a Lightwood Ward candidate.
By Casey Neill
Thirty-nine hopefuls have thrown their hats into the ring to represent Greater Dandenong ahead of the Saturday 22 October local government elections.
Nominations closed at noon on Tuesday 20 September.
Ten of the 11 serving councillors have re-nominated across the municipality’s four wards, as have several previous candidates and councillors.
Cr John Kelly is stepping aside, 25 years after he was first elected.
“I think it’s probably someone else’s turn now,” he said.
“I feel comfortable with it. It’s time to move on and do something else.
“I’ve met some absolutely wonderful people.
“I’ve been privileged to represent the people of Dandenong.”
Cr Kelly said he had a couple of things in the pipeline regarding how he’d spend his free time.
“I’ll let the dust settle and see what happens,” he said.
He said working on the Dandenong Market redevelopment and a campaign to stop drug injecting rooms in the city were among his biggest achievements.
“We’ve got a great council,” he said.
His ward, Silverleaf, will be the most hotly contested with 11 candidates vying for two seats.
At the 2012 election, incumbent Maria Sampey received 23.36 per cent of the vote.
Zaynoun Melhem, who received 14.75 per cent, has again put up his hand.
Other candidates include Rhonda Tannous, who runs Why Not? Wooden Bakery at Dandenong Market; former social worker Saied Rezawi; Rajab Jafari; Justice of the Peace and former City of Casey councillor Sam Afra; former Greater Dandenong councillor Sue Walton; Luz Escobar Munoz; Naile Cicekdag; Greater Dandenong Disability Advisory Committee member Pradeep Hewavitharana; and Alfred Tyrone Gnanapragasam.
Seven candidates will contest the three-seat Lightwood Ward.
Sean O’Reilly collected 28.54 per cent of the vote at the last election, Youhorn Chea 27.57 per cent and Loi Truong 18.92 per cent.
Dang Quach received 11.2 per cent of the vote last time around and will stand again.
New to the seat are Noble Park resident Gagandeep Singh; Nathan Niven, who has union and ALP ties; and Linda Pompeia.
Roz Blades won 28.08 per cent of the Paperbark Ward at the 2012 polls, followed by Peter Brown on 19.21 per cent and current Mayor Heang Tak with 17.85 per cent.
Three candidates from that contest are running again – Brad Woodford (2.62 per cent), Huy Tran (3.64 per cent) and Minh Van Tran (6.82 per cent).
The other Paperbark candidates include Albanian Islamic Centre member Alam Bhuiyan; Sophie Tan; Ramy El-Sukkari; Sajjad Shamsi; Emine Gok; and real estate agent Tim Dark.
In Red Gum Ward there are three vacancies and nine candidates.
At the last election, Jim Memeti received 22.73 per cent of the vote, followed by Matthew Kirwan with 13.75 per cent and Angela Long with 11.47 per cent.
Murugan Nagarajan won 1.12 per cent of the vote as a 2012 candidate and has nominated again.
Hayatullah Rahimi, 35, received the council’s Leadership Award on Australia Day for his advocacy on refugee and asylum seeker issues, and support for the Hazara community.
The other Red Gum candidates include Dandenong North Primary School council member Minwen Wu; David Daniel Ball; Lions Club member Lidia Paul; and Van Lanh Dang.
The Journal will bring you more election coverage as the campaign progresses.
