Four Clarence councillors with a combined 52 years of service have said goodbye at the council’s final meeting of the term.
Jade Darko, Bree Hunter, Richard James and Beth Warren each gave a farewell speech on Monday night. None of them is recontesting this month’s election.
Mayor Brendan Blomeley thanked all four and noted that one councillor “bumped that number up considerably”.
That was James, who was first elected on March 24, 1984.
James recalled being black-banned by a council staff union in his early years for publishing the council clerk’s salary in his newsletter.
The union’s secretary, he said, is now one of his closest friends.
He listed achievements including recycled water for Coal River Valley irrigation and new change rooms at Risdon Vale.
He also praised the community’s win in keeping Rosny Parklands for public use after the AFL high-performance centre was moved.
“Stick, if possible, to what you advocate,” he advised new councillors.
Greens councillor Darko said serving had been “an absolute honour”.
She said her career had taken off and she hadn’t had the energy to push harder on issues like the sharing economy and mutual aid, which is why she isn’t running again.
Darko urged the next council not to think small and to “think about how council can be more than roads, rates and rubbish”.
Hunter, who served one term, said the big decisions on Skylands, Kangaroo Bay and the high-performance centre had tested her values.
“Looking back, I honestly don’t know whether every decision I made was the right one. Time will tell,” she said.
She left candidates four pieces of advice, ending with: “Be an enabler, not a divider.”
Hunter said she was leaving grateful rather than with unfinished business.
“I think there’s something healthy about knowing when it’s time to step aside and give someone else the opportunity,” she said.
Warren, a Greens councillor first elected in 2018, opened with: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
“Those people who know me or have been watching council meetings know that this term of council has not been easy,” she said.
She named getting the Aboriginal flag flown outside the council chambers as her standout achievement.
Her first motion failed, but it passed on a second attempt after the community covered the council lawn with small flags.
Warren asked voters to elect a “kinder” and “more collaborative” council this October.
The acting CEO also paid tribute to each of the four, on behalf of chief executive Ian Nelson and staff.
The new council will have nine seats, down from the current 12.
