NEWS
Inexperience at the helm
Ogilvie returns with new mayor
Councillor Craig Ogilvie
BY MARIA TAN
F
ormer Capalaba councillor Karen Williams was sworn in as the new mayor of Redland City Council (RCC) during a public ceremony at Cleveland Showground. The new mayor, who received almost 70 per cent of votes from the electorate, told SIN she felt “a huge sense of relief” that election campaigning was finally over. “That’s a fairly tiresome activity and requires 24/7 commitment. I suppose the whole experience has been very humbling and I am certainly very grateful for the level of support that I received and obviously with that comes a huge responsibility and great expectations across the city.” The top three issues on the Mayor’s agenda were council rates, tip fees and establishing a “Red Tape Taskforce”. “I’ll be lobbying my colleagues to support a general rate increase of no more than the CPI or less,” Mayor Williams said. “That’ll be one of the first tasks, as well as abolishing tip fees and getting the red tape taskforce moving to make some of the processes in the organisation more efficient, transparent and fair,” she told SIN.
WINTER 2012
In fact, at her first general meeting as mayor, Cr Williams did abolish tip fees, despite opposition from five councillors, including Straddie’s councillor, Craig Ogilvie. The meeting also voted to set up a taskforce to cut “bureaucratic red tape”. Cr Ogilvie said the average rate-paying household would now have an annual waste levy of more than $305 a year, up from the current $290 annual fee. Division 1 councillor Wendy Boglary, representing Wellington Point and Ormiston, said many residents were unaware the fees would come “off the gates and go on to rates … Why should pensioners who don’t use the dump have to subsidise those who do,” she said. On her first day as mayor Cr Williams had also begun working with the new Newman State Government on the disbanding of water supplier, AllConnex, and told SIN she would not support any government “writing legislation for legislation’s sake”. “I would be encouraging that we actually think through how we deliver on those sorts of outcomes that we’re trying to achieve,” the Mayor said.
Experienced councillors, re-elected in the recent local elections must ensure correct processes are followed in the new council, which will be led by a first time mayor and many first time representatives, Councillor Craig Ogilvie told SIN. “This council will have the responsibility for new Town Plans that are revised every seven years,” Cr Ogilvie said. “Because we have a first time mayor and many first time councillors, it is essential that we ensure that correct processes are followed in planning and also in development approvals. “We need to ensure that Island residents don’t pay higher rates because council gives the go ahead to unnecessary urban sprawl areas that need new roads and sewerage and footpaths and so forth. “The last council won awards for financial planning and it is up to us to continue to push hard to keep the council’s books in order despite the election of a primarily inexperienced council.” Voters elected a new mayor, Karen Williams, who was previously councillor for Capalaba, and seven new councillors. Cr Ogilvie, standing for a third term, defied the mood for change by winning with a narrow margin of 95 votes (50.62 per cent of the vote). “There was a lot of money spent on trying to get rid of all the councillors who didn’t believe in urban sprawl on the mainland,” he said, “I was targeted and I’m proud that a lot of people supported me anyway.” His lowest Island vote was at Dunwich (40.6 per cent) almost identical to the LNP/ALP split at the state election, although Cr Ogilvie is an Independent. Sand mining was a major issue in Dunwich at both elections, although neither Cr Ogilvie nor the previous council opposed mining on the Island. “I think people were in a mood to punish with or without reason,” he said. Point Lookout was the only booth in the Redlands won by outgoing Mayor Melva Hobson, with a vote of 54 per cent. Karen Williams won almost 70 per cent of the total Redland vote. — Liz Johnston.
STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 9