Victoria Point mum Jos Mitchell announces mayoral tilt

Mitchell has worked as an artist, mediator and small business owner during a wide-ranging career across the public and private sectors. She will now change tack as she mounts a campaign for the mayoralty more than 12 months out from polling day.

The mother-of-three, who spent more than a decade with the Queensland Police Service, said she had always been interested in politics and believed the time was right for a change at the top of Redland City Council.

She faces a daunting task to dethrone Karen Williams, with the incumbent mayor set to push for a fourth straight term at the helm if she recontests, having brought up 10 years in office during 2022.

In an exclusive interview with the Redland City Bulletin, Mitchell said her focus would be on transparency, professionalism and accountability.

She said multiple council projects were concerning residents and claimed there was little to show for the city's "skyrocketing" rates, which climbed another 4.72 per cent last year.

"Over the last few years, I've watched the conduct of council business and felt overwhelmingly dissatisfied," Mitchell said.

"The impetus was watching issues of council operational management from the elected body, strategic direction and conduct.

"In watching what is going on, I think we can do better. So my personal focus is around strong leadership for cohesion and collaboration."

Mitchell said Redlands required a "back-to-basics" approach and vowed to champion service delivery for the community if elected.

She also pointed out her dissatisfaction with the current council, claiming community interests and questions were being ignored.

"We need to stick to those core functions [in the Local Government Act] and inject a level of professionalism, accountability and transparency, which I don't feel we currently have," she said.

"We need a level of genuine interest in the community through hard work. We need to get back to those core principles and do it in a proactive, genuine and collaborative manner."

Mitchell - who has called herself a Redlands local for more than 10 years - enters the political fold without any experience in the field other than being a long-time follower.

"I have always been interested in politics [but] have never belonged to a party," she said.

"I like to pick and choose from policies, look at what each party is offering, what each individual is offering and what their skill sets are politically ..."

Mitchell said service was the key for the council, and that included supporting sport and community organisations.

She said it was important that councillors earned their salaries - with the mayor's gross wage topping $183,000 in 2021/22 - and believed representatives should be committed to "doing the right thing".

"I question the priorities driven by the current council, the decisions being made, as well as issues of conduct," she said.

"We need to stop the record rate rises, put an end to the waste and focus on delivery ..."

Announcing her tilt at mayoralty more than 12 months out from the election gives Mitchell time to liaise with the community on burning issues.

"If I were a part of the LNP or ALP, I would have party backing, and that comes with a whole lot of resources," she said.

"I am an independent, so I don't have those resources. So the intention in announcing now is to get people to know me, see me around, and talk to me."

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