The ideal mayor

THE jostling for position to become the next mayor of Geelong has begun in earnest.

Insiders say it is down to four candidates: Pat, Pete, Bruce and Steph.

Or to be more formal (as they would have us be, once the mayoral robes are donned and local government pomp and ceremony started): Councillor-select Murnane, Murrihy, Harwood and Asher.

The position of mayor for the term of this council (assuming one candidate takes the chair for the full three years) is less “presidential” than it was under our previous two mayors, who were directly elected.

Those mayors were able to claim a popular mandate superior to their fellow councillors.

But our next mayor, being appointed by council, can claim only a kind of “first among equals” status as she or he seeks to push business through the chamber.

But the leadership positions of mayor and deputy mayor are still vitally important, and not only as symbols, to what kind of council this new Geelong regime will be. They will be equally important to how it goes about getting its policy agenda implemented.

Our next mayor will have to deal with a ward structure in which all councillors want to play hyper local hero and swagger back into their neighbourhood with a big ratepayer-funded boondoggle that will justify their re-election.

This might be good for the wards but bad for Geelong and the Bellarine as a whole.

The ideal next mayor will have the courage to jettison the old politics of slopping out a ladle for every rent-seeking councillor, and the ability to implement a broader vision for Geelong.

The ideal next mayor will have been tested in leadership positions, be strong under pressure, have little baggage and as few skeletons as possible, experience in the real world, and a conscience as well as an eye for the bottom line. It is a long wishlist, we know. But Christmas is not far away. And you never know your luck in a big city.