City of Bunbury council candidate Ben Andrew believes joining the council is a natural progression in his bid to help stronger communities and connections.
Mr Andrew works as a marriage celebrant and for a local business.
He has ten years experience as a funeral director, in which he said had given him a 'great understanding of the cycle of life and ingrained the importance of leaving a legacy'.
"I want to continue my commitment to the South West and the best way I can do that is by joining the Bunbury City Council," he said.
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Mr Andrew's vision is a city with a prosperous, vibrant and diverse community working together.
"A community which encourages investment, drives economic development and strives to enhance quality of life for all," he said.
Mr Andrew has been involved in many community organisations including Rotary, Relay for Life, Bunbury Cemetary Board, Sea Rescue and Dirt n Dust.
"I have been named Young Citizen of the Year in 2002 and Citizen of the Year in 2018," he said.
As a councillor Mr Andrew aims to facilitate 'transparent, two-communication' between the community and council.
"I will participate in decision making to meet challenges and develop long-term visions and goals that guide our City's future," he said.
"I will connect across the community and with business to better understand needs.
"I will be accessible and accountable, while performing my duties with a high level of probity, integrity and care."
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Something Mr Andrew would like to see the city work on is population density.
"Our retail and hospitality sector up until a few years ago completely supported towns like Dalyellup and to a lesser extent Treendale, Eaton ect," he said.
"With the expansions of the shopping centres in those areas Bunbury is no longer supporting the population we once used to.
"There are still numerous opportunities for in-fill residential developments that do not depend on destroying natural areas of bushland.
"To achieve this we need set an achievable population growth target and to support this we need to "loosen" up some of the aspects of the Town Planning Scheme to better facilitate greater densities."
On Mr Andrew's day off, you will find him swimming in Koombana Bay, or cycling and running around the network of footpaths and cycleways of Bunbury and finishing off at a local cafe.
The other councillor candidates are Mark Chadwick, Tresslyn Smith, Matt Foreman, Karen Steele, Marina Quain, Daniel Singleton, Dave Chandler, Wayne Chattillon, Michelle Steck, Jaysen De San Miguel, Dr Parthasarathy Ramesh and Gabi Ghasseb.
The mayoral candidates are Michelle Steck, Amanda Yip, Cheryl Kozisek, Betty McCleary, Jaysen San DeMiguel, David Kerr, Michael Southwell, Alfred Leigh, Tresslyn Smith and Gabi Ghasseb.
