The Leader has asked each election candidate it profiles to bring an item that means something to them; whether it be personal, symbolic or representative of a professional achievement, and give the public an explanation why.
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RAY Tait is a doer.
One look at his track record shows decades of service to the community; as a paramedic, one of the architects of Tamworth's Young Drivers' Expo, a former councillor and a board member of non-profit agencies like Oxley Community Transport.
Ready to walk-the-walk again, Mr Tait has put his hand up for another tilt at council.
"It seems to me that the council has taken a step back and is accepting anything that the state government wishes to deal out, I'm not happy with that," he said.
"If you accept it, you're condoning it. I don't condone it and if I can do something about it, I surely will."
Mr Tait's top priority is the securing the city's water supply and a bigger stake in the decision-making process.
While he welcomes the new Dungowan Dam build, he said control of the city's water has slowly slipped from the council's fingers.
"If you control the water supply in Tamworth, you control development in Tamworth," he said.
"Back in 1954 or thereabouts they built Dungowan Dam and had 100 per cent say, now we're in a situation where Chaffey Dam has been upgraded and we have very little, if any, say over the water that comes out of Chaffey Dam.
"All of a sudden all of our water is now reliant on state government and the minister. Sadly the bureaucrats that administer it quite frankly haven't done such a wonderful job to date."
Improving the lifestyle for residents is another big ticket item for Mr Tait, who believes too much focus has been put on making a profit at the expense of forward-thinking about liveability.
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"In this city we have a bad habit of putting up a great edifice, cut the ribbon, give everyone a pat on the back and then walk away and don't maintenance it for the next 10 or 15 years," he said.
"It's not about that, it's nice to get a profit or an income but it has to be measured in terms of the services that are delivered to the public."
Asked to bring an item of significance with him, Mr Tait brought the Paul Harris Fellowship award, that was given to him by the First Light Tamworth Rotary Club.
"To me it was a recognition of what goes on in the background," he said.
"You can have a brass band and walk down the middle of Peel Street blowing your own trumpet and I'm seriously not like that, I'm a doer, I'm not a talker."
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