Very good news for UFC hall-of-famer and survivor
of worst wavepool accident in surfing history BJ Penn who is
running for governor of Hawaii in November, 2022.
Australian surfer Chris Homer has shocked election
pundits and the political class by unseating the incumbent
left-wing mayor to win the mayoral race in Shellharbour, a city on
the NSW South Coast with a population of 70,000 or
thereabouts.
In a 2019 story in Tracks,
Homer is described as a “semi-deity” and “one of the best barrel
riders Australia has ever produced, had the talent to match the
very best in the world.”
The reason Homer never left the South Coast to chase a
pro tour career was, according to Tracks, “with Redsands
and Razors seemingly bending to suit his style, what was the point
in leaving the jewels at home to chase sponsorship and
prizemoney.”
Labor mayor Marianne Saliba had been in the job for ten years
before clean-skin Homer came in swinging with promises of a “fresh
wave of leadership”, which included leading a campaign to stop the
council from building a 200-seat function centre and fifteen cabins
inside one of the last hunks of dirt on the coast that hasn’t been
flattened and turned into ghettoes of developer cubist
“mansions”, joints designed to be hot in summer, cold in winter and
to crumble into ruins within twenty years.
Not everyone was under Homer’s
thrall, howevs. Per the ABC,
During a mayoral forum in November, candidates were given
10 minutes to pitch to voters.
It took Mr Homer just over 2 minutes to outline his
plans.
On housing affordability – a key issue across regional NSW –
Mr Homer said his work as a mortgage adviser offered him an insight
into the obstacles preventing locals finding a home.
But despite his industry knowledge, Mr Homer offered only a
vague promise to investigate the issue once elected.
He was also unable to answer multiple questions related to
bread-and-butter council business including parking, hard
rubbish collection and building standards.
This prompted a question from the audience, “You seem
unfamiliar with local and state planning guidelines. Why are you
running for mayor?”
Mr Homer confessed on multiple occasions he was not “privy
to the intimate details” of council – and it remains to be
seen what impact that will have on the way council
functions.
But his promise of an independent council not “tethered to
the will of a political party” was an attractive pitch to
voters hoping for a change from Labor’s grip on the
region.
Small and hardly cataclysmic matters, I’d suggest, and easily
examined, digested and sorted by Homer.
The win is an encouraging sign to king of the octagon, UFC
hall-of-famer, survivor of worst wavepool accident
in surfing history BJ Penn who is running for governor
of Hawaii in November, 2022.
Like Homer, no political experience, but a heart like a lion
etc.
