Dear Friends and
Owners of Unley,
I hope you enjoy the
2026 Spring News below. Next April 2027 we have Council elections. After 20
years of elected service and with a significant Birthday later this year, I
will not be seeking re-election again as your mayor. Some details are in the Newsletter.
Thank you for your support, ideas, and encouragement over two decades. As
usual, “This newsletter is the voice of your mayor and may not reflect the
formal Council position”.
Without support,
no-one on Council alone can achieve anything. I have had brilliant support and
ideas from the two Deputy Mayors Council has elected this term. Monica
Broniecki and Jack Gaffey, both were elected twice by elected members and
both, on the second time unanimously. Jack is our current Deputy Mayor. I
am also thankful for the support I have both received and been able to give our
current Councillors. We have another 8 months to serve.
No Mayor can expect or
should expect to control Council. We need to understand that every elected
member has one or two issues that they ran for election on and therefore wish
to have the chance to be heard and voted on.
I believe only four
Councillors will be re-standing for the next term for election as Councillors.
Every Ward will have either one or no existing Councillor rerunning. I also
believe that two of our existing Councillors including our Deputy Mayor, will be
standing for election as Mayor.
The good news.
Unley Council now
has a new set of rules that protect your elected members that serve you.
Like so many other
Councils, prior to the introduction of our Behavioural Management Policy Unley Council had numerous Code of Conduct cases poisoning the good
governance of our Council. This generated bad publicity that undermined public
confidence in Local Government. We needed to develop a totally new approach.
Our newly elected
Council in 2022 had public costly cases, and then in 2023 after we introduced
our Policy the outcomes speak for themselves:
- zero legal costs since
- All complaints resolved or were withdrawn.
- The tone of Council changed and has become
respectful and engaged.
After three years’ experience we have reviewed our 2023 code, and the attached code was unanimously agreed to.
In 2027, Please nominate. I have attached the achievements of the previous Council. Next year I will send you the achievements of this Council. If you agree with most…. You are way ahead…. If you nominate then “in Unley, you can do good”.
With my best wishes,
Michael
