Graham Scobie to Run for Mayor
Moruya businessman Graham Scobie will be a candidate for Mayor in the Eurobodalla Shire Council elections on Saturday, 13 Sep 2008. This is the first time that residents and ratepayers will have the opportunity to vote directly for the Council leader. Mr Scobie says that he is starting his campaign early for three major reasons: firstly, there are two former Mayors on Council as well as the current Mayor plus a good chance that at least one other Councillor will run for the office. So he is giving himself a head start on what he considers will be a Melbourne Cup field of candidates for Mayor.
Secondly, he is giving groups across the Shire the chance of inviting him to speak at meetings so that he can let them know what he stands for. This could apply to business groups, Probus, Quota, Apex, Lions, Rotary or other service or sporting clubs, schools, church groups, retirement villages or any other community organization that has an interest in the outcome of the September election. And the third reason for starting his campaign more than four months prior to the election is to magnetize other like-minded residents and ratepayers, from a wide variety of backgrounds, to consider putting their names forward for the Eurobodalla Shire Council election in September.
Graham has run Scentertainment for the past 9 years and the Moruya Voice for just over 2 years. Scentertainment books musicians into venues from Victoria to Queensland and the Moruya Voice is a shire-wide weekly community email newsletter specialising in arts, entertainment and local government. The Moruya Voice won a Moruya Business Award in 2006. Mr Scobie has just been elected President of the Moruya Chamber of Commerce for the third year in a row and has been a resident of the Eurobodalla Shire since July, 1981. He has been actively involved in local politics and the community since then with roles including President of Moruya and District Residents Association in 1981, co-founder of Campbell Page in 1984, Campaign Manager for Councillor Tom Slockee in 1991 (Tom was the first Koori elected to Eurobodalla Shire Council), President of Moruya Festival of Music in 1994 and 1995 and Chairperson of Moruya River of Art in 2007.
Graham Scobie comes from a political family. His great-grandfather was State Member for Broken Hill from Federation to 1917 and his father, Ian, is a former two-term Shire President of the Holbrook Shire Council. From 1984 to 1986 Graham worked with Federal Member Jim Snow on the South Eastern Employment Task Force conducting the first Feasibility Study into Youth Traineeships from Eden to Ulladulla. He was also a candidate in the 2004 Eurobodalla Shire Council By-Election. During his working life Graham has been employed by all three levels of government as well as the community and private sectors including three years overseas in the late 1970’s. Highlights include over a decade with Country Energy in Moruya as well as TAFE in Batemans Bay and the Australian Bureau of Statistics in Canberra.
By the time the election arrives in September Graham will have attended every Council meeting for 12 months as well as numerous committee meetings. He has represented Moruya Chamber at Joint Chamber Meetings with Council since 2006. As well as bringing to Eurobodalla Shire a wealth of experience in politics, business and the community, Mr Scobie believes he can also be a voice for those marginalized in our Shire such as the Koori community, the unemployed and pensioners. You can read more about Scobie for the Shire at www.scobie.com.au and you can find out more about Scentertainment and the Moruya Voice in a flyer that is currently being distributed to 13,000 homes across the Eurobodalla Shire.
Authorised by Graham Scobie, PO Box 87, Moruya 2537