REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Monday March 29, 2004

MAYOR-elect Ron Clarke announced he would use former Brisbane lord mayor Jim Soorley to help him ‘put a new broom’ through the Gold Coast City Council administration.

Despite publicly backing Mayor Gary Baildon at the recent election, Mr Soorley agreed to ‘shadow’ Mr Clarke for his first 100 days in office to guide him through the bureaucratic obstacles of implementing major traffic, water and administrative reforms.

In his first major appointment, Mr Clarke announced that Mr Soorley would head up the city’s new urban growth management advisory board, which was a non-paying position.

Mr Clarke, who scored a comprehensive victory over Mr Baildon, came into the $138,000 a year job with no previous local government experience.

“I want to sit down with Jim Soorley to discuss the finer details but it would certainly be an asset to have him on one of these boards,” Mr Clarke said.

Mr Soorley faced a similar challenge to Mr Clarke when he was elected to City Hall in Brisbane in 1991.

He came from virtual obscurity to beat the highprofile Liberal former Brisbane Lord Mayor, Sallyanne Atkinson.

Within his first week in office, Mr Soorley devised a ‘100-day plan’ where he cut a swath through the council administration, sacking a number of senior officers he believed were not performing.

Mr Soorley also appointed outside consultancy firms to devise strategies aimed at implementing his promises.