"It’s important that I do my job and that I work hard and it’s then up to the voters of this ward to make that decision,ultimately,and I’m in their hands,"he said.
"[The Greens] are assuming a lot given we're nine months out."
After his own success in 2016,Cr Sri said the upcoming 2020 election was a whole new beast,with the Greens supported by a bevy of experienced doorknockers willing to put the hard yards in walking the streets.
The expected introduction of compulsory preferential voting,a state government legislative change,is also expected to benefit the Greens,he said,as will the ban on developer donations –"those were our two biggest weaknesses against the LNP".
Walter Taylor and Coorparoo are now held by brand new councillors,after former LNP committee chairman Julian Simmonds left for the bright lights of Canberra and administration stalwart Ian McKenzie retired.
In the suburban south-east,a short drive out of Brisbane's centre,Coorparoo's new LNP councillor,Fiona Cunningham,has a margin of just less than 3 per cent and the Greens are hopeful of a win.
To the west in Walter Taylor,new LNP councillor James Mackay has a stronger margin of 16 per cent – he was contacted for comment.
But Cr Sri said issues such as the unpopular Mt Coot-tha Zipline,scrapped by lord mayor Adrian Schrinner weeks after he replaced Graham Quirk earlier this year,had played against the LNP in the west.
Meanwhile,Central Ward incumbent and field services committee chairwoman Vicki Howard has a similarly comfortable margin of 16 per cent,but the rapidly changing demographics of Newstead,Fortitude Valley and other inner-north suburbs may play against her,Cr Sri said.
Cr Howard was contacted for comment.
Cr Sri said the federal vote collected by former Greens senator Andrew Bartlett in the federal seat of Brisbane against the LNP incumbent Trevor Evans also suggested a positive chance on the local level.
"The Greens vote grew very substantially – swings in Brisbane Central and Paddington got[Senator] Larissa[Waters] re-elected,"he said.
"The frustration with the political establishment is what we're tapping into."
In last month's federal election,Mr Bartlett gained a swing towards his party of nearly 3 per cent – a shift that the Greens hope will play well in local politics.
Other LNP weaknesses such as Doboy,on a margin of less than 5 per cent,and Northgate – held by finance and administration committee chairman Adam Allan on a margin of 1.7 per cent – are Labor's to fight.
Cr Sri said preselection for the wards had been deliberately staggered to seek out the best candidate for the Greens to put forward for lord mayor.
He said he hoped it would be a female candidate,to offset the competition of lord mayor Adrian Schrinner and Labor's candidate Rod Harding.