Four months since the election

Oh dear. The Cairns1st website has been severely neglected as we get down to business with the new Cairns Regional Council. There's been much happening: we've delivered a very tough budget, got up to speed with the internal processes of Council, continue to attend numerous functions and events, respond to constituent issues, plan for the future.

Diane Forsyth and Kirsten Lesina are both loving being councillors and have been working hard. Kirsten has bought herself a bicycle and has been going out for Friday lunchtime rides with Council staff to see first hand the priority areas for bikeways. Di has been great at listening to people who have had long-standing issues and doing all she can to resolve their concerns.

I have kept up the energy and enthusiasm despite not having a break for a very long time. Media guru Gary Schofield described me as "gracious and determined" in his farewell article in the Post and that determination to make a real difference in our region is firmly at the forefront of what I do.

I have been slowed down emotionally following the death of my oldest brother in Tasmania; sadly occurring only 8 months since my mother lost her battle with cancer. And then the unexpected news that my son James has proposed to his girlfriend Kim and will marry next year. So it's been a time of celebration, mourning, delight and hope in the midst of all those daily activities that is what life is all about.

And we will get this website updated at some stage!

Residents Response System

I have been getting around the Cairns Council chambers building meeting people and increasing my awareness of what staff do in the different sections.

The team which works at the frontline taking all the phone calls which come into the Cairns Regional Council has very impressive operators.

(That's me with Narelle Wakefield who trains any new officers).

There are usually 7 people on duty at any one time. When the phone rings, the person next in line to answer calls says "Good morning, Cairns Regional Council . . . . . ," not knowing who is going to be on the end of the line or what their query will be about.

They field requests about lost cats, queries about what the council is doing about flood debris washed up on a beach, changes of address notifications, complaints about delays on the Daintree ferry, questions about development applications, opinions about fluoride being added to the water supply . . . . and, occasionally, a thank you for a problem solved.

Staff must be responsive, patient, knowledgeable and friendly for hours at a time and it was wonderful to observe this happening at first hand. If you do have a query, don't hesitate to ring. Your call will be taken seriously, recorded and passed on to the appropriate section for action.

Of course, there are glitches from time to time and people don't get the response they are looking for but for the most part the Residents Response team does an amazing job of being really client-focussed and helpful. It's great to see.

Visit to the north of the region

Late Saturday afternoon (12th) Cr Julia Leu and I attended the AGM of the Baileys Creek Community League, an organisation which has been operating for 34 years in the Cow Bay area north of the Daintree.

 

I had been unable to meet with the group prior to the election so was pleased to be invited to attend.

 

The members brought us up to date with key issues that they have been concerned about and want the Council to take a lead on.  Electricity seems to be the most significant issue as it is also for the tourism operators and residents around Cape Tribulation where I headed after the Baileys Creek meeting.

 

We will need to talk with the State government about this matter and also the on-going saga about getting a boat ramp on Thornton Beach.  There are some things north of the Daintree that can be responded to quickly and others that are going to take some time.

 

There seems to be a new spirit of collaboration between the residents north of the Daintree and they are keen to move on the outcomes of the former Douglas Shire's Community Engagement process which was interrupted following the announcement of the amalgamation.

 

It is acknowledged by all that the area is of the utmost significance and that its environmental values need to be protected and enhanced. At the same time, the 70 or so small businesses north of the Daintree need to be able to thrive and create jobs.

 

There are no magic wands to wave but we need to  be agreeing on priorities and what can be delivered and when. I look forward to working with Julia to make some key things happen.

The first few days of being mayor

After all the unofficial functions and meetings over the past 3 weeks, I am now officially on full-time duty as Mayor of the Cairns Regional Council.

I am nearly on top of all of the congratulatory and other emails and am responding to the myriad of invitations that are coming in. It's great that lots of groups, committees and people want to meet their new mayor and have a chat and I am trying to get to as many events and meetings as I can.

Being presented with a history book by the 10 students of Bartle Frere school - the southernmost in the region - has been a highlight as was seeing Cr Kirsten Lesina graduate in Law at the Convention Centre on Saturday (pictured with Lecturer, Mandy Shircore and the dean of the law Faculty), and attending a very positive meeting with the Board of Advance Cairns yesterday.

Over the next two days the seven new councillors will join with our four continuing colleagues to be comprehensively briefed by the General Managers of the various Council work units. Acting CEO Noel Briggs and his staff have worked hard to pull together all the information that will need to be covered and this is really appreciated.

The first major meeting of the Council will be on 24th April and the agenda is huge. We are all on a rapid learning curve and soaking up all the knowledge needed to be able to make the best possible decisions for people in the region. We won't be able to please everybody but we will be open and honest about how we make decisions.

Swearing in on Thursday 3rd April

Here I am - courtesy of a photo from http://www.cairnsblog.net/ - after being sworn in on Thursday 3rd April. The mayoral chains against the red suit make me look a bit like a Christmas tree, but hey, it's a change from over a 100 years of blokes in grey suits.

It was a wonderful day. Around 200 people attended at the Council chambers - more than had ever attended a swearing in previously - and there was a real sense of excitement and hope amongst those who attended.

It was great that former mayors, Tom Pyne and Ron Davis, were able to attend and I apologised for former Douglas Shire Council Mayor Mike Berwick who served his council well in 17 years as mayor and was in Canberra meeting with Peter Garret.

Seith Fourmile started off the ceremony with a welcome to country which struck just the right note. The Minister for Local Government, Warren Pitt spoke of the Queensland government's priorities for local government. Then each councillor was sworn in by CEO, Noel Briggs (a bit like a marriage ceremony with the signature and all!) and took their seats before the first meeting. I had not expected the standing ovation; a wonderful finale to 5 years of hard work campaigning to be mayor.

Cr Margaret Cochrane was elected deputy mayor and we resolved which councillors would serve on a myriad of committees both internal and external. I was particularly pleased to be able to put my hand up to be on the boards of Advance Cairns and the Cairns Regional Gallery.

We all shared morning tea and took time to talk with all the people who care about local government, who supported the election of the various councillors and who were pleased to hear that we plan to govern for all.

New hair style

The wonderful Stewart - Miss Pensylvania - created this new hairstyle and gave Gavin King, the Cairns Post columnist the chance to have a go at me and trivialise my first week as mayor-elect.

Gavin reckons I look like someone's maiden aunt. What's he got against aunts? My goddaughter, Marlee, thinks Auntie Val's the best since I headed down to Gordonvale High School to have afternoon tea with her grade 8 home economics classmates a couple of hours after the swearing in ceremony on Thursday 3rd April.

I look forward to the day when Gavin takes my election win seriously and reports on what I am doing to advance economic activity in this region. If it's good enough for the Financial Review to give me an extensive interview one might hope that the local newspaper would show some interest.

we must get the website updated!

I've had a few comments from people telling me I must get the website updated.

Yes, we will . . . . . . eventually. I think that the energy in getting to election day has been spent and we need to take a break before we get back into it.

I sent a message to all the supporters - 500 of them on the database - thanking people for helping in so many different ways: donating money, letterboxing, putting up corflute signs, door knocking, working at a polling booth, selling and buying raffle tickets, organising fundraisers, writing letters to the editor, organising street stalls, designing ads, donating raffle prizes, visiting people who needed postal votes, answering the phone, entering data etc etc etc. It's all a bit overwhelming.

Now everyone is sitting back a bit and luxuriating in the victory but we will get our act together and get the website updated. Gabi Cooney of Just Purple New Media created the site and has been maintaining it. A wonderful, wonderful donation to the campaign.