00:00Hey it's Freddie from The Advocate and we're in Devonport today with local
00:04government elections coming up and ballots hitting mailboxes across the
00:08state. We're gonna find out what it's looking like in Devonport, what the key
00:12issues are and who might come out on top. So let's go.
00:15So who are you voting for in the council elections?
00:17Steve Martin.
00:18I'm voting for John Aleksu.
00:21Alison.
00:22Because he's helped us in the past with lots of things and he knows us as a family.
00:27I think he's really community driven, he's really honest, he has good values, he
00:31really cares about the community, he's very involved in the community.
00:35I haven't really given it a lot of thought except for this, I mean I know the
00:39thoughts are things that I want to think about.
00:42Well I think she's been doing a good job and she's keen to keep going and she's
00:48enthusiastic so I'll stick with it.
00:51What do you think about how the council has performed this term? I'm not overly impressed.
00:55Maybe better to keep that to myself.
00:57More over the last 20 years I think the Devonport Council has performed pretty well.
01:02You know it's shown because we've gone from being the poor cousins of Bernie to being the
01:08coast leader I believe in the redevelopment as much flack as there was during the early
01:15days and I would question it myself because I had some commercial properties that were being
01:21impacted by that development of Baranapal. But they seem to be settling down so at the
01:28front of the river side and the new plaza and all the rest of it, it's amazing.
01:33My biggest concern is the number of vacancies in places like the mall here, up the street,
01:39in the surroundings. It just presents a poor image I think to anyone visiting to see all these vacant
01:44shops. It doesn't present a thriving appearance. It looks like we're a bit dead and boring to be
01:51honest so I was a bit worried about that.
02:03For me it's all about the future of what they're going to do in Devonport. I see that there's major
02:10traffic issues starting to happen with Fornby Road and Middle Road up near Rees High there.
02:17I would definitely look for a change, yes.
