Former Maclean Shire mayor, former Clarence Valley mayor and current Armidale Regional Council Mayor Ian Tiley is provisionally listed as a candidate at the September 2021 Clarence Valley local government election

 

The Daily Telegraph/The DailyExaminer, 2 June 2021:

Dr Ian Tiley has revealed there is a strong chance he will run for a spot on Clarence Valley Council after his name was spotted on a Local Government Register of Candidates.

The registration of a candidate is a separate process to nomination and was brought in to help prospective candidates better understand the responsibilities of being a local government representative.

While Mr Tiley, who is currently the Mayor of Armidale Regional Council, was not a definite for nomination he said “the probability is that I will run”.

“I love local government and I have been involved continuously since 1964. I don’t feel inclined to retire just yet,” he said.

In 2016 Mr Tiley was appointed administrator of the newly formed Armidale Regional Council (ARC) and was elected to its first council in 2017.

Following political turmoil and the short term appointment of another administrator to ARC in 2020, Mr Tiley was elected Mayor.

Mr Tiley has had a 50-year career in local government, moving from senior management to being an elected representative in 1991, serving on a number of councils.

He is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Local Government at the University of New England and served on the NSW government Local Government Acts Taskforce.

Eager to get back to his home in Maclean on a more permanent basis, Mr Tiley said it’s “time to return to paradise”.

“Local government has been my work and passion. You are in a position to make a difference to the lives of everyday people,” he said.

“I don’t feel ready to put the feet up yet.”

Mr. Tiley is not the only candidate who has provisionally entered his name on the Local Government Register of Candidates for the Saturday 4 September 2021 election in the Clarence Valley.

So has Stephen Pickering, Phillip Belletty, Tara Matteson, Allison Waites, and Jeffrey Smith - all of whom like Ian Tiley appear at this stage to be standing as Independents. A seventh candidate, Donald Scott, has listed the National Party of Australia as his formal political party affiliation. 

Given that is is expected that at least seven of the nine sitting Clarence Valley councillors will seek re-election in September and, given that candidate nominations do not close until 4 August 2021, then a rather long ballot paper may be developing.