Meet independent Shellharbour mayoral candidate, Chris Homer

Lake Illawarra resident Chris Homer, an independent candidate, is vying for a second term as Shellharbour City Council Mayor in a bid to continue the work he’s already started.

Making his local government debut when he took on the mayoral role in 2021, the former semi-professional surfer gave up his professions as a mortgage broker and owner of a surfboard shaping and designing business to tackle the mayoral role full time.

Cr Homer said coming into the role with a background in a diverse range of employment fields had served him well during his latest tenure, which included previously being a fully qualified power station operator, a real estate agent, interior decor consultant, supermarket fruit and veg packer, truck and frontend loader driver, and professional lifeguard.

“I’ve been in and out of roles all my life because I was a semi-professional surfer, and I had jobs, whether they were high level jobs or low level jobs, that if they didn’t suit my surfing life, I left the job,” he said.

“In the past, it was seen as probably uncommitted and flighty putting surfing first, but as life works out, it’s been of huge benefit to me to have had a lot of professional roles, because this is a relationship job.

“It’s about how you are with people, and it’s about how you understand people.”

He said the main achievement he wanted to continue and consolidate was Shellharbour choosing him as an independent mayor in 2021, moving the role away from a major party.

“What I’m doing now, after a short term due to COVID of two years and nine months, is asking for the community to stick with this ship that they’re on, consolidate this leadership and move forward with a leadership that I actually think has helped Shellharbour move forward in leaps and bounds,” he said.

“For a mayor like myself, who people may see came in as the new guy, and it may even be considered as an apprenticeship as your first term, well, now I’m a tradesman, and I’m asking people to stick with me, stick with this ship, and move Shellharbour into the future.”

He said for the next four-year term he wanted to focus on two major infrastructure projects – the Tripoli Way Bypass in the west and Shell Cove sports and recreation field in the east.

“The Tripoli Way Bypass has been on the books since 1961 and I’m extremely proud that in this term of independent-led mayoral leadership, we’ll be getting spades in the soil this term, or just after it,” he said.

“We’ve expedited the process for Tripoli Way during this term.

“The other major project on the east coast will be the delivery of the Shell Cove sports and recreation field near the marina, which will be a legacy project of the culmination of something like a 20-year joint venture.

“Another big one for me is I will advocate and drive another community survey and have conversations about people’s views about the grassed area in the marina precinct.”

Cr Homer said his commitment to the community back in 2021 was to bring a fresh wave of leadership to the Shellharbour community, which he believed had now changed the tone of the council.

He said he was taught that the most important thing a chair could do was be the tone at the top that inspired and enabled professional operational people to be their best.

“That’s what I’m proud of in Shellharbour, because it’s very noticeable right now that there is infrastructure in this town that in all my 56 years of life here hadn’t been touched for all those years,” he said.

“I’m renewing sports grounds and playgrounds right now that haven’t been touched since.”

He said that public infrastructure also included $15 million in seawalls and $5.5 million going into promenades on the lake.

“One of my election promises was to ensure ratepayers got value for their dollar and they see it in a tangible way,” he said.

“Yes, they took a risk on me but I’ve paid them back for that risk and I’ve taken Shellharbour forward in leaps and bounds and I’ve honoured the past leadership, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

While he ran for a state Labor seat in Shellharbour last year, he said now he wanted to focus on local government and removing the political “argy-bargy” that often sidetracked progress.

“Our goal here is to put the community first and foremost all day, every day,” he said.

“When I’ve got to drop things for the community and work on mitigating a political attack, the community comes second.”