What is your previous experience in Local Government?
I spent 15 years as CEO of the City of Cockburn, and most recently at the City of Canning as Interim CEO and Director of Corporate and Commercial.
I am glad to be able to continue my local government career at the City of Swan; being Perth’s largest metropolitan local government it has many challenges and opportunities, it’s a genuinely exciting place to work.
How have you spent your first month as CEO at the City of Swan?
One of my first official duties as CEO was to swear in Councillor Jagdip Singh, then the following week, I attended my first City of Swan Ordinary Council Meeting.
I’ve also had the opportunity to begin engaging with many of the City’s external stakeholders and local political leaders. In my experience, developing these relationships is essential if we are to have supporters back and help deliver the many advocacy priorities the Council has adopted.
But as importantly I’ve spent time reviewing the many strategies, plans and other documents that the City has to guide it. With the lead up to the Christmas break, understanding the City’s fire readiness preparations has been a key part of this. I was keen to ensure we retained the learnings from the 2021 Wooroloo Bushfire and were well prepared for any emergency in this fire season.
What are you looking forward to in 2023?
This is going to be an exciting year for the City with several important projects that will be completed or progressed that will have significant benefits for our community.
These include the Swan Active Midland refurbishment, which will improve the functionality, accessibility, operation and safety of the facility, the Stock Road extension, which will improve connectivity to Bullsbrook, and the construction of the Ellenbrook Youth Centre, which will provide a safe place to socialise, connect and engage.
What is your vision for the City of Swan’s future direction?
My focus is on the delivery of the City’s Strategic Community Plan, but in a way that will make it easier for residents to see what the City has planned. I believe we can make our plans more visible, particularly a level of detail for our Local Area Plans.