Cr Smith was elected in sixth place at the recent local government election after preference votes were counted.

Smith owns and operates a plumbing business that has run locally since May 1986 and is currently the fire captain of the Glen Innes RFS brigade.

However, rather than seeing adding the job of Councillor to his schedule as daunting, Smith said the honour of being elected by locals has given him extra energy and focus.

“I want to represent the whole district and I would like to see the local government area grow,” he said.

Cr Smith said his first order of business will be to take part in the election of a Mayor and Deputy that will best lead the new council.

“We need to elect a Mayor and Deputy that are going to actually give the council the best chance at being a cohesive unit moving forward,” he said.

“My primary concern is that we have a group of people that want to move forward and that can work with council staff to make unified decisions.”

But Cr Smith said he had not made a decision as to who he would back for the leadership roles.

“I know I won’t be putting my hand up for either leadership role because I want to learn how the system works first,” he said.

“I will leave the decision on who I give my vote to for the first council meeting of the new term.” 

Cr Smith said there are a few pressing issues that need to sorted out within the next 12 months.

“Roads are a major issue with me and I’d like to see that problem addressed but we have to remember that the weather plays a factor and there is also only a limited amount of funds in the bucket to do actual roadworks and repairs,” he said.

“It is OK to have all these wish lists but I do know the money has to come from somewhere to pay for them.

“At the end of the day as Councillors we have to make decisions for the good of the whole community if we can and that’s my aim.”