I'm feeling a bit despairing filling out my ballot, because there seems to be so few candidates who have even a vague idea of what governance is supposed to be.

You can see the candidates here:

https://www.albany.wa.gov.au/council/council-business/candidate-profiles.aspx

I haven't studied them in detail, but of the 24 I would say less than a third have "reasonable" platforms (even if I disagree with them).

There's about 8 who are mask-off anti-trans anti-woke anti-dei MAGA dickheads, (and I suspect several more who haven't been as forthright about their views).

The remainder are just hapless idiots who very clearly don't understand governance.

Hopefully, the candidates aren't indicative of the opinions generally held by the populace.