Independent mayoral challenger Ross Kerridge has announced his team taking on the September council election.
The 'Our Newcastle' independent team is pitching "change" and "building community" in their bid for election on September 14.
Dr Kerridge, an anesthetist and former Labor party life member, is running against incumbent Labor lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes and will also be on the ticket in ward one.
Former CEO and head of schools Peter Gittins will run under Dr Kerridge in ward one, marketing professional and former small business owner Leisha Parkinson will be the team's lead candidate in ward two, owner and publisher of "The Local" community newspaper Mark Brooker will be the lead candidate in ward three and library manager and former Labor branch secretary Tahlia Kelso will top the ticket in ward four.
Dr Kerridge took on Cr Nelmes for Labor pre-selection earlier this year, losing 134 votes to 104.
"What that showed was that there was widespread dissatisfaction within the Labor party," Dr Kerridge said.
"I think the community is sick of reading about petty points scoring going on at council, the funny stories of what's going on in the council senior administration.
"They want a council that focuses on the community rather than building a political career and that's what I want to offer them.
"In my career as anaesthetist, a key part of my job has been pulling together a team of disparate individuals with all sorts of different opinions and personalities and making them work together effectively as a team - sometimes under incredibly high pressures at 2 o'clock in the morning.
"And I think that's what council needs. We need all 12 councillors to be involved in decisions because they represent the whole community."
Mr Gittins said he believed the city "demanded better leadership, better infrastructure and better services".
He listed community connection and infrastructure as big issues in ward one.
Ms Parkinson said she decided to run after seeing over-budgeted projects and unhappiness in the community about council decisions.
"I'd like to see real honesty and integrity and I know that gets said a lot," she said. "But no more hiding behind 'commercial in confidence' and cherry picking arguments and figures just to get the best story across.
"There's a real lack of community engagement. The opportunity to really properly engage isn't happening, and even if it does happen, they don't listen."
Mr Brooker previously ran as an independent in 2021. He said the basketball stadium proposal at Wallarah and Blackley ovals and the private operation of Lambton pools were not popular decisions in the ward three community.
"I've been impressed by the things Ross has said publicly over the last little while, such as the opinion piece in the Herald calling for free pool entry," Mr Brooker said.
"When he approached me a little while back I listened to him and I went 'yeah, that's that's a group I want to be part of'.
"People are feeling like they're getting lip service from our council. There's surveys and there's community engagement sessions, but they don't actually feel like their views are represented in the glossy documents afterwards."
Ms Kelso also unsuccessfully ran for Labor pre-selection on Dr Kerridge's ticket earlier this year.
"I think that he really cares about the community and I think that he wants to see the best for Newcastle," she said.
She has lived in Beresfield and Wallsend and said she felt ward four was neglected by the council.
"I think we're seeing a really strong focus on multi-million dollar projects in the East End which are costing a lot of money while basic maintenance in ward four in particular is being neglected," Ms Kelso said.
"I really want to offer a voice to the community out here and take their feedback."
Our Newcastle candidates
Ward one
- Ross Kerridge
- Peter Gittins
- Emily Coker
Ward 2
- Leisha Parkinson
- Kimberly Besser
- John Beach
Ward 3
- Mark Brooker
- Michelle Brown
- Alyssa Lochrin
Ward 4
- Tahlia Kelso
- Julie Davies
- Wayne Rogers
