Fabulous Nobodies

Illawarra Mercury

Friday July 18, 2003

By LAUREL-LEE RODERICK

WOLLONGONG'S councillors are faceless men and women, according to a shock independent survey.

When asked to name a Wollongong City Councillor who is doing a good job at the moment, only Lord Mayor Alex Darling rated a decent mention.

In a wake-up call for our civic leaders, Keira MP and Minister for the Illawarra David Campbell was regarded by those surveyed as the second most memorable councillor - despite the fact that he has not been the lord mayor for four years.

The most disquieting feature of the results was that 52.4 per cent could not name a councillor doing a good job.

Reflecting either ignorance or total lack of interest in local government affairs in Wollongong, those that said they could name a councillor then incorrectly identified people such as Federal MPs Jennie George and Michael Organ and State MPs Marianne Saliba and Matt Brown as sitting councillors.

They also named the council's general manager Rod Oxley and retired Labor identities Colin Markham and Stephen Martin.

Councillors Violet Pocock and David Brown did not even rate a mention.

The survey of 342 people conducted by the highly reputable IRIS Research was privately commissioned and paid for by Cr Darling to gauge community perceptions and acceptance of his lord mayoral performance.

These findings come hot on the heels of the biannual council report card released by IRIS, which also revealed a less than flattering picture of the public perception of the council and the services it provides.

The report card results reported in yesterday's Mercury showed that public satisfaction with the council's services and facilities had not improved over the past two years. The number of residents who agreed that the council's priorities were in line with making Wollongong a better place to live fell by more than 10 per cent.

While Cr Darling came up trumps in the survey of his performance, many other councillors reacted angrily to the survey findings. The Active Community Team's Dave Martin criticised Cr Darling for commissioning the survey at all.

Keira MP David Campbell was not concerned by the poll.

``It is nice to be ranked second in the category of doing a good job, even though I am no longer on the council," Mr Campbell said.

Cr Darling said he was pleased with his strong showing but was alarmed at the ignorance of the other councillors.

WHAT WE THINK OF COUNCIL

Can you think of a Wollongong City Councillor who is doing a good job?

Cr Alex Darling.........22.2%

David Campbell.........6.2%

Cr Dave Martin...........5.3%

Cr Anne Wood............3.8%

Cr Kerrie Christian......1.2%

Rod Oxley..................1.2%

Cr Carolyn Griffiths.....0.9%

Jennie George...........0.9%

Michael Organ...........0.9%

Stephen Martin..........0.9%

Marianne Saliba........0.6%

Cr Vicky King.............0.6%

Matt Brown...............0.6%

Bob Proudfoot...........0.3%

Caroline Christensen..0.3%

Colin Markham..........0.3%

David Moulds............0.3%

Cr Ian Hunt................0.3%

Cr Janice Kershaw......0.3%

Cr Kiril Jonovski.........0.3%

Cr Mark Yates............0.3%

Paul Fanning.............0.3%

Cr Trevor Mott............0.3%

Could not name any..52.4%

Major issues of concern:

1. Urban planning

2. Road development

3. Environmental preservation

4. Council working with the community

5. Youth issues

Perceived value for council rates (out of 5):

Wollongong = 3.2 (down from 3.4 in 2001)

Lake Macquarie = 3.3

Newcastle = 3.4

Impressions of staff:

63% of respondents who interacted with council staff had a positive impression (down from 67% in 2001).

56% of respondents with no interaction had a positive impression of council staff (unchanged from 2001).

Wollongong above benchmark satisfaction levels for:

Community and neighbourhood centres

Wollongong below benchmark satisfaction levels for:

Garbage collection and disposal

Greening and tree preservation

Overall council performance

Management of residential development

Significant improvement in satisfaction with services: None

Significant decline in satisfaction with services:

Arts, entertainment and culture, greening and tree preservation, youth services and facilities

... AND HOW THE COUNCILLORS REPLIED

DAVE MARTIN

I am concerned that the Lord Mayor has commissioned a survey assessing the public perceptions about which councillors are doing a good job. I am not surprised that a lot of people can't directly name their councillors.

ANNE WOOD

It is very clear to me that people are never quite sure who is their elected representative in council. People generally only take an interest in council if something is going to personally affect them.

KERRIE CHRISTIAN

I think if people need to know who their councillors are they find out. Most people don't get interested until there is a need to do so. There also isn't enough emphasis put on educating people about the role of local government.

CAROLYN GRIFFITHS

I think that is a sad indictment on our community that people don't know who their councillors are. I'm busy virtually all the time but maybe we are attending too many meetings.

VICKY KING

It is fair to expect that the Lord Mayor Alex Darling and a former lord mayor in David Campbell would get a good response. I think the sample surveyed is too small and would have been more reflective if it targeted specific areas.

IAN HUNT

I would prefer more recognition of councillors as that would translate into recognition of the amount of work we do in the community. But I did not run as a councillor to be in a popularity contest.

JANICE KERSHAW

The majority of people only really get to know their local councillors if they have a problem. Maybe if they don't know who we are that suggests they haven't really had a problem.

KIRIL JONOVSKI

The results show a lack of awareness of the councillors but I believe in my ward more than 0.3 per cent of people would be happy with what I am doing.

MARK YATES

I think most people aren't interested in politics generally and this survey is a reflection of that. Most people only turn up to vote to have their name crossed off. There is just complete apathy when it comes to politics.

TREVOR MOTT

It appears to me that councillors are not identifiable enough with the community. I am quite surprised that the community are not recognising the work that we do.

VIOLET POCOCK

I find that response quite amazing. I pull about 60 hours a week and there is quite obviously a lack of awareness of the role of a councillor.

DAVID BROWN

I find that quite surprising given that there is a fair bit of coverage of what we do. It is also a bit of a concern that people are mixing up the levels of government.