Jewish candidates eye St Ives ward spot
Two Jewish candidates from different generations are in a field of eight independents competing for votes in the Ku-Ring-Gai Council St Ives ward by-election to be held on October 27.
TWO Jewish candidates from different generations are in a field of eight independents competing for votes in the upcoming Ku-Ring-Gai Council St Ives ward by-election to be held on October 27 to fill a vacant position caused by the resignation earlier this year of Jewish independent councillor David Citer.
At 19, University of Sydney first year economics student Jack Abadee hopes to become the youngest elected councillor in NSW, and has vowed to tackle the issues of overdevelopment, a lack of green space and sports grounds, and making Mona Vale Road safer.
Although his mother is not Jewish, Abadee told The AJN the paternal side of his family is Jewish, he had a bar mitzvah at a non-Orthodox shule in Los Angeles and he sometimes attends shule, “so I’m very proud of my Jewish identity”.
His late grandfather Warwick was a former president of NSW Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women, and his father Phillip is a former Randwick City councillor.
“I’ve got a good family history in local politics, and I’m motivated to run for council because I’m disappointed with a lot of actions Ku-Ring-Gai Council has taken, especially on [allowing] overdevelopment,” Abadee said.
“As a young person, I look up to people like [former Ku-Ring-Gai councillor] David Ossip, who was elected when he was 20.”
Father of four Richard Winderbaum, who has lived in St Ives since 1989, has run for Ku-Ring-Gai in previous local government elections on a platform of improving services and facilities for both young families and senior citizens, and protecting the area’s heritage.
He told The AJN those remain his objectives, and he knows the area and the community very well.
“I believe housing affordability is very important in attracting families to the area and for enabling our senior citizens to remain in the area – there’s a lot of council land that can be rezoned for seniors’ living,” he said.
SHANE DESIATNIK
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