Following the retirement of Fay Miller, elected as Mayor of Katherine at the 2012 elections and re-elected in 2017, the position was offered up to Alderman Lis Clark, leaving a gaping vacancy in her seat.

Applications are well and truly in and the council is expected to make their decision at the next meeting on Wednesday.

The new alderman will be in the role for for the remainder of the current term, which ends in August.

Here are the Katherine residents vying for a spot:

Like many of the young adults in Katherine, I moved here from the big city in QLD with a short-term plan to build my career and be out in a few years - like so many, how quickly plans changed.

I fell in love with the town of Katherine, its people, its culture and more than anything its potential. Having worked within our local hospitality industry and within the Kalano Indigenous communities, I have had the opportunity to see and work with a large portion of the community and understand its wants and needs. Katherine is my home and the home of my partner and I'm running for this position to ensure that Katherine has a bright and sustainable future.

I look at all the people on the council right now and although I know their intentions are true, I feel there is a dire need for some experienced, well-intentioned youth within that group to ensure the leadership of Katherine is aligned with the views and wants of those who look to inherit it.

Katherine is a beautiful township and welcoming community, but I feel that not enough is being done to ensure our youth not only want to stay in Katherine, but have the opportunities and lifestyle that will convince them to stay.

In the years I've been here I've watched Katherine get bigger, then smaller and now bigger again. I'd like to see Katherine start sustaining its businesses and building on them instead of replacing them. This will be my biggest goal if I am elected.

Some of you may know me, but for those who don't, I am a passionate and devoted long-term member of the Katherine community. My family and I moved to Katherine in 1996, I completed my primary and secondary schooling here at St Joseph's Catholic College and completed years 11 and 12 at boarding school in Hamilton Victoria.

I have loved horses since I was a small child and I have been an active member of the Katherine Horse and Pony Club since 2002 where I have ridden, competed, represented the NT and I am now a qualified coach and judge so I can give back to the sport I love.

I am a member of the Katherine and District Show Society committee and have been the ring master for the equestrian events for the previous three shows. I train and compete with my dogs in agility and obedience competitions and I love being active and spending quality time with my beautiful family and friends.

I am committed to giving back to this amazing community that has given me so much during the last 25 years and I want to be a member of the Katherine Town Council for you, for the people of Katherine. I want to represent and advocate for our town and its residents.

It was my skills and experience in governance and my passion for our town that motivated me to apply for the vacant alderman position but it is my love and belief in what we can achieve together that truly inspires me.

As a long-term resident of Katherine, I have a deep understanding of the challenges we face. In the face of these challenges however, I will be the champion for innovation, I will fight to empower our community and local businesses to think outside the box, to challenge the status quo and to strive for constant improvements to benefit us and our community.

Katherine has such unique culture, rich history and some of the most beautiful and inspiring landscapes I have ever seen. I have found in my 25 years in Katherine that the community demonstrates so many important traits, we are strong, passionate, resilient and everyday inspires me to work harder and advocate stronger for the future of our vibrant little piece of Australia.

I was raised in Sydney, New South Wales, and moved to Katherine in November 2016, where I have since resided.

My professional background is in corporate governance, and corporate and regulatory compliance at both state and local government levels. I am currently employed in local government (not Katherine Town Council) in a corporate capacity at managerial level, and I have been actively involved with volunteer emergency services in the past.

My vision for Katherine is a prosperous, developed regional town, led by a decisive, rational and accountable local government.

I want to see fit-for-purpose community amenities that residents can actually use, and proactive forward planning.

I bring with me a comprehensive understanding of local government, its function, and applicable law, and through this can provide close scrutiny of council policies to always uphold public interest.

I believe that I can contribute significantly to council and community, as a building professional has a duty to the community, to advocate for design that promotes accessibility, health and amenity, and to assist council with decision making and provide quality discussion and feedback when required of council.

I believe that I can very much assist the council with my technical experience and knowledge developed over a twenty year period in Katherine as part of a 30 year residency in the Territory, with my skills associated with Project Management, Building Design, Technical Expertise and Governance.

Standing for the position represents a stand for a position against apathy. I also applaud other applicants in coming forward for the same reasons.

Personally, I would like to see improvements into the connectivity throughout town, through initiatives such as construction of footpaths and cycling infrastructure, as we do not have a public bus services or the like, and we need to ensure that all people, including those with disabilities and the aged, are catered for in our community.

It is my opinion that many elderly community people leave Katherine during retirement due to a lack of infrastructure and connectivity that works to assist these people to navigate themselves through day-to-day life.

It is important that we will all become older and it is important now to advance our infrastructure programs whilst ensuring that maintenance backlogs are managed, hence, to leave Katherine Town in a sustainable position in times to come.

There have been some decisions on several projects made in the past that maybe should have been examined further, for which some unintended consequences have occurred. I believe that my experience would assist with such project related decisions, to ensure the decisions are examined carefully and diligently, and to ensure those decisions reflect the wishes of our community, are best for the environment and reflect economical and sustainable value.

Currently I enjoy my role as director for the Katherine Bendigo Bank and my role as secretary for the Association for Northern Territory Building Certifiers. I hold several bachelor degrees relating to the field of building design, building surveying, construction economics and sustainability.

I have been successful in a business for over 30 years that continues to thrive and expand, I love working in Katherine and remain accountable for those I do business with.

I have worked for major engineering and construction companies previously and started my career as a technical writer and marine engineer in the Royal Australian Navy.

My interests are living my life in Katherine, motorsports such as riding speedway motorcycles and driving speedway cars. I also love to play the guitar albeit minus considerable talent.

I'm running for the casual vacancy on the Katherine Town Council because I really want to help the people of Katherine.

I've been raised by my mother and taught to always help those that need help. If I can get on the council, I will use the same enthusiasm, dedication and people skills I use at my main place of employment to help the council communicate with the community and keep the spending as low as possible.

I've attending every council meeting over the past seven years minus the ones due to COVID-19. I've listened, questioned, studied and watched the council over the years from the outside.

If I get on the council then I would have learned even more in the next seven months to help Katherine even better.

I value trust, commitment and hard work and I strive to keep it.

I will always help those that need it. I'm currently Bush Orders Manager of Woolworths Katherine, and I've spent three years building friendships with my customers - and to my favourite customers fear not, if I'm on the council I won't leave you guys behind.

I chose to apply for the alderman vacancy after much deliberation. I have personally kept an eye on council over the last five years both by attending meetings and reading minutes.

I have in that time made several presentations to council on a number of issues which have strong community support. I think to be effective, KTC requires a diverse mix of community representation.

I have worked for the private sector for almost my entire working life and therefore appreciate the value of a dollar and as such the effectiveness of good financial management.

Seven months is not a long time to make great headway, however, I was very pleased to read that our new Mayor is keen to see projects completed. I'd like to take that one step further and see they are completed on time and within budget and would use council meetings as an opportunity to follow up progress and budget expenditure.

In addition to this I'd like to strive for greater community consultation on any proposed new projects to ensure they reflect community values while simultaneously accommodating future growth of this town.

I have been a Territory resident for thirty years and in that time have lived in Central Australia, the Top End and now Katherine's rural area.

I have a son and a daughter, both born in Darwin, and both completed their education here in Katherine. I love the Territory and love the opportunity to learn its diverse history.

I have served on a number of committees and still hold a number of positions on several. I am an ardent supporter of the environment and work to foster sustainable growth across all facets of our community.

Every effort was made to include Mr Fletcher, but it appears he is on holiday.

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