After 15 years serving the community outgoing mayor Nic Carmody said it was time to step down and hand the reins to someone else.
“It has been an honour!”
Outgoing mayor Nic Carmody said in his wrap of his 15 years on council in a mayoral minute last week.
In the report, the councillor said he was originally coerced into running for the 1997 bi-election by Reg Wood, Alfred McCarthy and Mal Glasson.
After 15 years serving the community he said it was time to step down and hand the reins to someone else.
“In 1999 I handed out awards to kindergarten students who last year received their HSC,” he said.
At the council meeting deputy mayor Judith Williams said it had been a pleasure to work alongside Cr Carmody for the past 15 years.
“Truly, you have been a very fine leader,” Cr Williams said. “On behalf of the residents of this community I thank you for being a great mayor.”
Cr Michael McManus agreed with the deputy mayor’s sentiments.
He joked that he had been the “best mayor that Yass Valley Council has ever had”. Yass Valley Council having been created during Cr Carmody’s term.
The mayor counts the way councillors dealt with the shire amalgamation in 2004 as one of his major achievements.
When the council was sacked and Cr Carmody appointed administrator, he then advised the minister he would be appointing the eight other councillors as administrative advisors.
“I considered that the most important part of local government was that of maintaining the democratic process,” the mayor’s report says.
He said the “pure basis of democracy” was to give people a say in where their taxes go.
“That still happens in councils but no longer exists in state and federal governments.
“Taxes are more likely to be spent in areas of political advantage.”
Another achievement the mayor recognised was the building of Woolworths, in an attempt to turn Yass into a regional shopping experience.
He mentioned upgrading of the water supply and the current construction of the Yass Dam wall as one of his greatest challenges while in office.
“My greatest disappointment in my 15 years was my inability to secure more funding for the dam from state government.”
He was brought up to believe a person was as good as their word, but it was best to get promises in writing from politicians, he said in a final swipe at Burrinjuck MP Katrina Hodgkinson.
“Thus it was even more disappointing when that approach failed also,” he said.
The mayor counts the creation of the Local Environment Plan, the upgrading of community facilities, the relocation of aged care services and the new sewage treatment plant as achievements during his time in office.
For more from the mayoral minute visit the Tribune’s website www.yasstribune.com.au.