Working part-time in Member for Murray Helen Dalton’s Deniliquin office has given Mr Schofield an insight into both government and the community.
He now wants to put those learnings into action and champion improvements for his community as an Edward River councillor.
Mr Schofield is one of two officially registered candidates for the September 14 vote so far, and one of five to publicly announce their interest in standing for election.
The other candidate officially registered with the NSW Electoral Commission is Shirlee Burge, who is seeking a second consecutive term as a councillor.
Other existing councillors to confirm their intentions to stand are Linda Fawns and Shannon Sampson.
Deniliquin business owner David ‘Baron’ Schoeffel is also expected to nominate.
Mr Schofield said he wants to stand to help get Edward River Council back on track after a tumultuous term that has seen council in-fighting spill out into the public.
“I have grown quite sick of the antics of the councillors over the past few years; it is dragging us down,” he said.
“We are very uniquely situated here in Edward River.
“Moama is growing at vast rates, the Berrigan and Hay shire councils are strong and sturdy, and then our Deniliquin CBD is shrinking.
“I am young, and I have the time and the energy to sink into this.”
When he’s not working in Ms Dalton’s electorate office, Mr Schofield works in aged care at Orana.
He acknowledges his role with Ms Dalton may raise some concerns surrounding conflict of interest, but he said he’s already got a plan for avoiding any actual conflicts.
“I am running separately to my role with Helen, where I only work two days a week at the moment,” he said.
“It has already been discussed that if elected I would not be involved in any matters relating to Edward River Council.
“Similarly, I would declare an interest at council if it came to anything relating to Helen Dalton.
“This is not something I have gone into at the last minute.
“I have given this a lot of thought. I actually started thinking about joining council through the New South Wales election process about 18 months ago.
“I think working at the electorate office has given me some great experience and knowledge about local government that I could bring to the table.”
Mr Schofield said there are a number of things he would like to assist council in achieving for the community, but said one of the main improvements he hopes to drive is on public lighting.
“The street lights are appalling, especially in the west and north of Deniliquin,” he said.
“A lot of money has been invested in the areas within a few kilometres of council chambers, so I would like to see funding spread out across the community more.
“I’d also like to address the tip fees for residents without kerbside bin services, look at more supportive development application processes for new businesses and of course zoning for housing blocks to try and ease this housing crisis.”
• Nominations for the 2024 local government elections close on August 14, with ballot draws to take place the following day. For more information about nominating, go to elections.nsw.gov.au. Prospective candidates are invited to contact Pastoral Times content manager Zoe McMaugh on 5881 2322 or by emailing zoe.mcmaugh@denipt.com.au.
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