However, he was shocked to find one of the reasons for his characteristic deeper tone was thyroid cancer.
About nine months ago, Cr Clark noticed a lump in his throat which was later discovered to be a blocked saliva gland.
An ultrasound was undertaken to ensure there was nothing to be worried about, but when the radiographer decided to also check his thyroid gland as a precaution, she found a growth there.
"She asked me to return after three months and when I did that, she noticed the nodule had increased about 50% in size," Cr Clark said.
After two biopsies, he was diagnosed with follicular thyroid cancer.
"It was a bit of a shock. I’m OK, but it is not good to have cancer.
"It worries me as I have cancer riddled all through my family, unfortunately."
He had lost two family members to the disease and another three had been diagnosed or were in treatment for different types of cancer.
What comforted him was that follicular thyroid cancer was usually not life-threatening, he said.
Cr Clark now awaits urgent surgery to remove the growth.
He said he was worried the pressures on the health system because of the Covid-19 pandemic could cause delays in his procedure.
The surgery needed to be done urgently to reduce the risk of the cancer spreading.
"I’m trying to do everything I can — keeping a healthy routine and doing all the right things — but you never can mess with cancer."
For the past three weeks he had been strictly isolated at home to limit his chances of catching Omicron, which would cause further delays.
Next week he would undergo a CT scan and he hoped his surgery could follow soon after that.
The full recovery was about six weeks but hoped he would be able to return to work sooner than that.
When asked about the potential impact on his life, Cr Clark used his sense of humour and his reputation as a vocal councillor to answer the question.
"Oh, don’t you get too excited about me losing my ability to speak.
"There may be a lot of people who would like me to not be able to speak but I understand that is something rare and the worst, worst-case scenario," he laughed.
He was trying to stay positive, as worrying about things he could not change only caused more stress.
"What will be, will be — but I’m positive it will work out fine."
