Couple for council?

By Nicole Williams
THE nominations are in and 41 candidates will battled it out for 11 positions on City of Greater Dandenong council this year.
Potential candidates had until noon on Tuesday to nominate themselves for council and nine new candidates signed up at the last minute.
Among the candidates are husband and wife team, Cr Angela Long and Barry Long, who will have representation on half of the council wards if they are both elected.
Cr Long has renominated for Red Gum ward and Mr Long has nominated for Silverleaf ward.
It will not be the first campaign for either half of the community-minded couple – Cr Long has held a seat on council for three out of the previous four terms but narrowly missed out on a position in 2005, the same year her husband also ran and missed out on a seat.
In 2005 they ran alongside fellow married couple, Christine and Jim Ware, who were also not elected.
If Cr Long and Mr Long are elected in October’s election, it will be the first time a married couple had simultaneously sat on Greater Dandenong council since 1997, when Sharon Harris was elected along with husband Greg Harris, who became mayor.
Sudanese youth leader, and Greater Dandenong Young Achiever of the Year 2012, Victor Victor has also nominated for Paperbark and may be the youngest person to sit on Greater Dandenong Council, if he is elected.
At 20 years of age, he will knock Clare O’Neil out of Greater Dandenong’s history books, who was 22 and still studying at university when she was elected a councillor in 2003.
In 2004, she was elected mayor, becoming the youngest female mayor in Australian history.
Greater Dandenong is well-known for its safe Labor status, but there are a number of non-Labor candidates who have made their political affiliation known and will give current sitting councillors reason to sweat.
Local manufacturer Jill Walsh and Noble Park resident Brad Woodford will both run as independents, Matthew Kirwan and Nina Springle will run as Greens candidates and Ashton Ashokkumar is a member of the Liberal party.
A spokesperson for the Australian Labor Party confirmed that the party would not be formally endorsing any candidates in the Greater Dandenong council election.
Nine of the current 11 councillors renominated for their position.
Councillors who did not renominate include ousted councillor Pinar Yesil and Red Gum Ward councillor Paul Donovan, who told Star he wanted to focus on his creative writing, work as an educator and online multiplayer gaming.
All the candidates will be campaigning hard until Election Day on Saturday 27 October.
For a full list of Greater Dandenong council candidates, see Page 3.