AS the mayoral election approaches on 29 July, various opinions are coming forward on what makes a good mayor.
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I agree that council is a lot like a business and should be run as such – delivering financial accountability.
But as a long-term councillor I know that legally a council is also much more than that, and a purely business focus on numbers can never be enough. The Glasshouse debacle and the councillors’ dismissal in 2008 was proof of that. In a business, the chair of the board can afford to be hands-off, never dealing with shareholders individually and leaving operational details to the CEO.
But council is legally different and a good mayor can and must be willing to get into details, engage with actual people and dig into council’s operation. It’s the only way to identify the challenges to council’s efficiency and overcome them.
Having done the job for the past eight weeks, I know that the new mayor had better have prior council experience or they’ll be ignorant of what to watch for.
Lisa Intemann, Mayoral candidate