Candidate Sara Mulcahy respectfully withdraws from Douglas Shire Councillor race

DOUGLAS DECIDES 24'

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Sara Mulcahy has withdrawn for the Douglas Shire Council Councillor race. Picture: Supplied

Late last week, I resolved to withdraw my nomination for Councillor of the Douglas Shire. Long story short, I’m not ready.

Running for Council is not a decision anyone takes lightly. It’s a reasonably arduous process, with research to be done, rules to read, paperwork to fill in, and training to complete.

What I took away from that process, was that a Councillor’s primary role is to represent the interests of the Shire and the people who live in it. To listen to the community, advocate for them at meetings, and communicate decision-making back to them.

And that sounded like me. I thought I had this!

In reality, once I put my face out there on flyers and (regrettably) local Facebook advertising, I realised there’s a lot more to it than that. What people want is someone who’s going to fix everything, and if you can’t do that, they’ll find someone who’ll tell them they can.

When I arrived in Port Douglas four short years ago, I joined the school P&C as a way of fast-tracking my assimilation. And that was a contained version of what I have experienced running for Council.

You’re new, you have all these great ideas, then slowly you start to understand that if something hasn’t been done, it’s not because no one thought of it before you did, it’s that there’s a reason — and a good one at that.

I delved into the public records to find why Council were left with no option but to buy the ferry. How the wave park was voted through unanimously, but didn’t get up.

And that Council had partnered with the Queensland Government to set up a long term water security strategy back in 2018.

My campaign, if you can call it that, was based on the fact that we need a team who can work together and not stand in each other’s way. Everyone’s heard the tales of disharmony and defamation writs over the past couple of years. But I know now that
that was naïve.

I’ve realised I simply don’t have the depth of knowledge, the understanding of the local political system, or the thick skin to do this right now.

I spoke to the returning officer on Monday morning to let her know of my decision to officially withdraw from the race. And guess what? It turns out, I can’t. Once the nominations window has closed, you’re on the ballot paper and that’s that.

Luckily, according to the polls, I wasn’t in with much of a shot anyway, so I just have to lay low and let bureaucracy take its course.

I’m not giving up on the idea of Council altogether, Maybe one day when my kids are grown and I’ve been here another decade, I might consider a second tilt. But in the meantime, please don’t vote for me.