Montague candidate Alex Makin was Maroondah’s youngest Mayor at the age of 30 in 2010. He says councils work best when they foster collaboration.
We are in the midst of Council elections, with candidates scrambling to arrange preferences, while respective groupings try to out manoeuvre each other to gain numerical advantage.
While I am fortunate that Montague Ward has been relatively peaceful (thank you fellow Montague candidates), campaigning is often a time where division is sown across wards. Such division seeps its way into the Council Chamber, leading to feuding Councillors rather than collaboration.
I was 25 when I was first elected to Maroondah City Council in 2005, as one of Victoria’s youngest politically independent Councillors. My opponents assumed I would not win due to my young age and the other Councillors didn’t want me there due to my background in advocating for better transport and planning in Ringwood.
My first three years on Council, were extremely difficult due to entrenched groupings that were not open to collaboration. The only way I was able to get anything done was by working in partnership with the community so Council couldn’t ignore concerns.
My second term on Maroondah Council was easier. Generational change and ward structures meant some of the previous groupings had not returned.
Overall, we had genuine discussion and thought, which led to better outcomes for Council and our community. The collegial atmosphere showed when I was selected as Mayor in 2010, becoming Maroondah’s youngest Mayor at the age of 30. I secured the position not due to favours, but because my colleagues appreciated the work I was undertaking. The same approach applied throughout the 2008-2012 term as other Councillors became Mayor.
Local government should not operate like Parliament, where you have an entrenched governments and oppositions. Instead, Councils work best when you foster collaboration, where differences of opinion are shared and respected so Councillors have the information they need to make sound decisions.
Remaining grounded in the community is critical when on Council. It is the community that helps you get through the bad times and celebrates the good times.
To date, my time on Maroondah Council included some of the best, but also some of the worst times of my life. It is hard to find any experience that can exceed the ability to shape the future of a community you cherish, but unfortunately that also comes with political machinations that do not do anyone any justice.
While local government will invariably incorporate politics, let’s remember that every candidate is still only human.
Alex Makin was a Councillor for Loughan’s Hill Ward (2005 – 2008) and Mullum Ward (2008 – 2012) serving two terms on Maroondah City Council. He served as Maroondah’s youngest elected Mayor in 2010.
Alex moved to the City of Port Phillip in 2013 and lives in Port Melbourne. He is a candidate for Montague Ward in the 2014 Port Phillip Council elections.
