Lord Mayor hopeful Will Fowles has called for all Candidates running for Lord Mayor to disclose early their campaign expenditure before the poll.

Will Fowles Calls for Campaign Finance Disclosure.

This a cheap grab for headlines as all candidates will have to submit a declaration of expenditure and fundraising as required under new legislation.

Although Fowles has called on candidates to disclose early (how they can account for the cost of the campaign when the campaign is not yet completed is a bit problematic I would think.)

What’s more troubling is that Will Fowles has not lead by example and published his expense statement. Maybe he is waiting for others to show their hand first – but it would make more sense if he published his statements and then called on others to do likewise.

Council in the making

Whilst preference deals are underway a quick look at the form guide indicates that that the results of the election should be known sometime tomorrow. Odds are no single grouping will elect more then one candidate.

Musical Chairs to the tune of “Don’t let me down”

There are nine identifiable groups made up of the usual suspects, running for seven council positions. Two possibly three minor groups will miss out. That means any person on two or higher numbered preference will be scratched out early in the count. The only groups expected to secure more then a quota and have a surplus is the Doyle/Jetter ticket, The Greens and McMullin. Fowles and Ng’s Council tickets will come close but are expected to be just below quota without a surplus. There will be a contest and struggle for poll position for the last two spots which should see either Clark or Snedden elected with an even more outside chance of both or maybe a Doyle’s number two or Garry singer coming up he middle straight and crossing the finish line. First grouping to miss out will be Wellington Lee (A past City Councillor with a good track record of community service), then a toss up between Garry Singer and the Resident’s Collective. They will be the ones to watch to see where there preferences are allocated. Preference deals have to be finalised by Monday and we should be able to assess the likely outcome soon after publication of registered tickets

Confused? Think of it like a game of musical chairs where there is less seats then contestants/groups. When the music stops the scrum for a seat is determined by who has the most weight/votes. It’s all in the order of elimination which in turn is influenced by the flow of preferences and surplus value of the four leading candidates.