Ben Smith @ Ballina

Well after several days of what it looked like to be Phil Silver being re-elected as Mayor, it’s turns out…Phil Silver has been elected as Mayor.

Which means that the 3 remaining councillors in C ward are automatically elected, including Myself. 

My result on it’s own disregarding the Mayoral vote, in my opinion was good considering I didn’t occupy all of the booths with volunteers on the day or at pre-poll, had I have done that, I imagine my vote would have increased quite proportionally.

I need to thank all of the members of the community, approx 13%ish that did give me your number one vote, I’ve got a number of things planned that will further democracy and empower the community, in addition to this, I feel that there are a number of issues where a simple, honest, non-political viewpoint would be extremely beneficial and I’ll be offering just that.

I need to also thank ALL of the support I’ve had from every stakeholder and many current Councillors within the shire.  The members of CAN, including Jane Garnier and Marilyn Perkins who have all been extremely supportive, a big thank you to John Felsch and his team of volunteers who actively supported me, a big thank you to to Sharon Cadwallader for her active support and importantly, a big thank you to Allan Rich who has been extremely supportive over the last 12 months.

Everyone who has supported me so far, I am extremely grateful and I look forward to working with you all in the coming years.

Moving Along.

 In politics, the most important thing is to stay true to yourself, soooo many people who had potential or might have been nice people to start out with have came out arseholes who refuse to listen in the end.  They forget who they are and what they stand for, they forget what they’re all about, where they came from, and what it’s like in the real world on a day to day basis.   

 I promise you that I will stay true to myself. 

 My life mantra is “Follow those who seek the truth and run from those who have claimed to have found it.” 

My promise is to maintain this, my promise is to maintain an open viewpoint at all times, I’ll always be seeking new ideas, new information new feedback to make the best decisions possible, I’ll never assume that I have the best idea or I know what’s best, I’ll always be open to discuss, debate and consider anyone and everyones point of view. 

I believe that every single person on this planet has something great to contribute and I hope to empower members of our community to bring that out of themselves and offer it.

My message is all about positivity and I’m excited about what I feel can be achieved when you throw a guy like me into the council dynamic. I’m looking forward to being part of a new council team.  I’m looking forward to dealing with the challenges that lie ahead but most importantly, I’m really looking forward to working with everyone, all members of the community, all the stakeholders and all the councillors because I know that when we all work together as a team we can achieve miracles.

Ben.

I want to talk about a few things in open, honest, almost non political terms.

 I’ve had people over the last couple of weeks I’ve had lots of offers of support.  I’ve had a lot of overall positive feedback from a number of groups and a number of individuals, sometimes from the least likely places too. I want to state for the record I’m running a donationless campaign.  I’ve refused any financial assistance and I’m spending minimal money on my campaign (mainly because I’ve got too many other things to pay! Not all of us are John Mcains!). I’m doing this as a matter of principal, as a matter of keeping myself honest and trying to set a good example.  This is what I think it’s all about, so I’m leading the way, in any way that I can to offer people a more positive view on politics. So no donations.  It has been surprising, this campaign.  Honestly, I didn’t expect as much support as what I’ve received from people, every person I talk to has been really positive and really supportive. Today at the Tintenbar hall was no exception.I came along to the hall expecting it to be just a quick “Hi I’m Ben Smith, lets answer some questions” but it turned into a “Hi I’m candidate abc I’m going to spend 30 mins being political and putting across very specific views of others and their policies”, I mean, sure it’s politics, but I was hoping for something a little more informal. At any rate, I came with no speech in hand, almost every other candidate came with an entire file of information and fully prepared speeches ready to fire their “vote wining blows”, admittedly, I felt a bit out of place, it’s something of a paradox, there are a lot of parts about politics that I just don’t like, ultimately, all I want to do is help others. I think it’s an important thing to note, for the average voter, that I’m just a normal guy and I don’t go to any effort whatsoever to hide that, I’m not some mighty or egotistical politician working on his ultimately plan or agenda. I’ve never considered myself a politician or even someone who’s passionate about politics, I’m just here to help others, that’s it. Back on topic.   So I did my unprepared speech, which turned out pretty good, I got across my ultimate message that I’m just here to get the job done and at the end of the day all of us want to make things better, we all have a lot in common, we all want to make this place great and essentially offering my vision.   After my speech, John Felsh stood up and did a speech, I had never met and spoken with John personally before and initially I didn’t know what to make of him, then he threw in a few jokes, and I started to realise the guy was a pretty positive, experienced guy. But then, he surprised me. John openly vouched for me and asked that people vote for me, he was impressed with my abilities, he was impressed that I could stand up and do a speech completely unscripted. John said that I will be a councillor (almost as if he already knew it) He also hoped that I become Mayor one day, he said all of this with passion and conviction, I was somewhat speechless, but thankful none the less. It’s nice to receive this kind of strong support, but I make a conscious effort to not let it get to me, some ego is good, but too much will ultimately destroy you. But ego aside, what it does do, is give me perspective on things and make me realise that I may actually get in as a councillor, I may well end up there, and I may well have to stand up and put my best foot forward. It’s a bit of a scary thought, but on the same note, it’ll be a new challenge, so I know it’s something that’ll help me grow and ultimately become a better person. So if I does happen, I’ll be looking forward to it.  If it doesn’t happen, then it’ll be another learning experience. Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.   Ben.

Hi Guys,

How are we all? I am quite excellent today.

Well it’s official I dropped the forms off this morning to the Returning Officers(The people that oversee an election) and I’m back playing this funny little game we call politics.

 Last time around, I honestly feel that despite throwing a bit of humour into my state election campaign, I still feel as though I was a bit reserved, this time, I’m withdrawing all reservations.

 I’ll be out there saying what everyone is thinking but no one has the balls to say, I will be more open and honest than any politician has ever been, I will literally speak my mind, none of this strategically calculated BS, no gimmicks, straight out as it is.

So get ready.

To kick things off below is my first Press Release.

 I’ll try to update this blog at least twice a week and I’ll do my best to respond to any legitimate comments.

Cheers guys.

 Ben aka Smithy.

Press release
From Ben Smith, candidate for the local council elections in Ballina Shire.
Date: 12/8/08
Contact: Ben Smith
Phone: 0415 482 412
E-mail: smithy@benjaminsmith.com.au

Ben smith is back
In 2007, at the last state election, Ben Smith, offered a refreshing, smooth taste that went down well but wasn’t enough to turn the tide on the somewhat inevitable election result. 

Regardless, Ben was happy with the result “I become the first politician to ever do his own beer in an election campaign, name one Australian that wouldn’t be happy with setting that record?  Jokes aside, it was a good experience.   Since then, I’ve learnt a lot and I’m back again with a new and improved formula”.
So what have you been up to lately since we last heard from you?

I’ve been going through a massive transformation, self-actualisation is a big part of my life these days, I’m learning new things about myself everyday.  I’ve started going to the gym 3 times a week now days, eating healthier, constantly searching for new experiences and overall enjoying life.  Beyond that I’ve been busy working away with my existing business and other various ideas and ventures.  I’ve also been doing salsa dancing on and off which is great fun.

Why are you running for council?

Post the state election that I last competed in, I had a number of people approach me and ask me if I have considered running for local council, I had considered it on and off, there’s always a lot to weigh up, but in the end I made the decision to run because I felt there was something unique and refreshing that I could offer to council that I felt no one else really could, if I didn’t think I could offer value to our local council I simply wouldn’t run.

Will you be doing any more cheap, vote grabbing publicity stunts?

I considered making promises I can’t keep, lying, cheating, stealing and corruption, but I want to stand out amongst the pack.  So at this stage, I’ve got nothing planned.  In all seriousness, we’ll wait and see.

Why aren’t you running for Mayor?

I personally feel that as a councillor I can get just as much done as mayor, at the end of the day I don’t really care about titles, to me it’s just about getting things done.

You’re currently 23 yrs old, are you concerned that some people might see that as being too young?

Irrelevant.

I’ve contested elections before, I’ve got just as much experience as other candidates in the relevant areas of my life.

There are mayors out there already that are currently younger than me, ultimately my age is something I bring to the table that none of the other candidates bring, it’s a really exciting opportunity to see what can, and at some point, will happen when you throw some youthful energy and excitement into an otherwise boring council chamber.

I’m always thinking outside of the box, and I can offer a unique style of thought to the council that debatably, is currently missing.

Let’s get down to business, give us some of the issues you’d like to work on at local level?

Rates, always something on the tip of peoples tongues and their wallets, I’d like to review them and essentially give those having a hard time at the moment, a bit of slack.

Environmentally (& Economically) Sustainable Growth, like it or loath it our local area is growing, we essentially can’t change that, but we can change how we go about it, and we can maintain our integrity and our identity as a naturally beautiful area in northern NSW.

As a small business person, I want our area to grow so that our local business community can flourish, but the key word is local, I’m not prepared to let for example some Sydney based CEO who doesn’t give a rats behind tear up our environment for the sake of his share price.  True local economic growth is when more money gets poured into our community and more money stays in it, throwing another big development where the profits end back up in Sydney somewhere is not something which benefits our community, I’m not saying I’m against outsider development, I’m simply saying there are better options.

If you want it in one sentence I’m going to bargain the best deal for our community everytime it’s as simple as that.

Youth Activities and Projects is another big area of mine, being quite young myself, I want the young people of our area to have a good time, and enjoy this awesome part of the world as much as possible.  I think there’s a lot that can be done in this area, simply because it’s never really been on the agenda to begin with, simply because there’s never been someone young on our council!  I’m definitely excited to see what we can do in this area if elected, more to come soon.
Finally, I just want to make Ballina shire a great place to live, and I want to find ways to encourage a greater emphasis on community, I want to see if we can bring more and more community groups to work together so that we can simply get more done, much quicker.  The frustrating thing about politics in general is that it takes so bloody long for things to get done, if they ever do get done, I want to empower individuals and groups of people, give them what they need so that we can get things done, and make our shire better and better each day in my term.

Will you ever run for state or even federal politics again?

It’s hard to say, we like to think we know where we’re going in life and that we’re in total control but control itself is a bit of an illusion, we’ll wait and see, right now at this point in my life the focus is this upcoming election. 
I’d like to think regardless of what the future holds I’ll make some significant contribution to improving the lives of others around me in the future.

One last question, still going to wear the lime green suit?

Haha, I might take it out for a spin at some point during the campaign.  I think it might be time to give my fancy white suit a turn.