What happens when a local candidate has a wife who can do the Robot?
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Thursday 25th of August
For immediate release When Ballina Mayoral candidate Ray Karam decided he was going to run for local council, the first person he asked for support was his wife Sarah Karam. He would never have guessed what that support was going to look like. Sarah, who is one of the owners of the Belle General café in Ballina, was on the coffee machine one day when a popular 90s hip hop song came on; one of her staff members suggested that she make a remix of it to support Ray’s campaign. Much to her staff’s surprise she turned up to work the next day with most of the song rewritten and asked them to take part in a hip hop video for YouTube. She took the idea to Ray and he loved it. From there they developed the lyrics, not only to let people know that Ray was running for Ballina Mayor but also to let people know how to vote. After talking to people both in his shop ‘Nourish’ and in the broader community, Ray Karam, who is also running for Councillor of ‘A’ ward, realised that, “there were a lot of people who were confused about how to vote and what section to vote in.” Ballina is comprised of three different Wards with up to three local council members being appointed to each ward. Ray Karam notes that not only were people confused by the Ward system, but many did not even know there was a local election coming up. “One customer wanted to know what local councils do – he didn’t know the difference between local, state and federal governments.” “We felt that the video would bring some fun to what can be a bit of dry subject for people,” he said. “We also wanted to connect to the younger generation who might not be that interested in politics. Some of the young people I spoke to said that they rarely know anything about who they are voting for and one said her votes are usually based on whether or not she likes the colour of a candidate’s pamphlet on the day,” Sarah said. Emphasising the importance of community engagement, Ray said that as well as the video, he was also launching a survey to hear directly about what issues were most important to local people. “The survey is a good way to learn about what is affecting the people of Ballina and how best I can support the community.” Sarah and Ray said that they hoped both the video and the survey would inspire people to become more involved in local politics and in the community. TAKE THE SURVEY to let Ray know what matters to you in the Ballina Shire. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RK4MAYOR About Ray Karam Ray Karam is a Ballina based businessman and father of five school-aged children. He is currently running for Mayor of Ballina and 'A' Ward Councillor. A former police officer and a board member of the Ballina Chamber of Commerce, Ray Karam brings a love of people and business to all aspects of his work in the community. You can learn more about Ray Karam at his website http://www.raykaram.com.au About Sarah Karam Sarah Karam is co-owner of the Belle Central café in the Wigmore Arcade and the Belle General café’ on Shelly Beach Drive Ballina. She is married to Ray Karam and together they have 5 children. |