June 27, 2024 • 18 mins
She's been 16 years in local politics, and now Shoalhaven's feisty Mayor has decided it's time to find a new calling, far away from the nastiness of keyboard warriors.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I heard shoal Haven.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I've put up with.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Some pretty hectic bully in Peter to be honest, particularly
through the later stages of the COVID council like twenty
nineteen onwards was very very toxic. So I was dealing
with a toxic council. But I was also dealing with
natural disaster on natural disaster and a COVID pandemic, So
you know, that's a lot of that's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Good A. I'm Pete Andrea. And as the shal Haven
prepares for the September local government elections, one of our
region's highest profile polleys has decided enough is enough. Quite frankly,
it's all become just too hard. Shoal Haven Mayor Amanda
Finley won't be standing for re election after serving on
council since two thousand and eight, including two terms in
(00:48):
the top job across the states one hundred and twenty
eight local government areas. Miss Finley is one of two
Greens mayors, and her political leanings have at times divided
the community and led to some fearce online and trolling
which have been very personal. Amanda Finley does have a
thick skin and at one stage did run as a
(01:08):
Greens candidate at state level, but the shine's gone off
the allure of political life for this fisty fifty four
year old, especially after watching the impact it's had on
her family and personal life.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
So when September fourteen comes around, I'm not going to
be an option on the ballot for people to vote for.
I'm going to be very ablely replaced by Kay Gartner
from the Greens. And many will remember Kay from a
stint on council that she did from twenty sixteen on
the five year three month Council the COVID Council through
(01:43):
to twenty twenty one, and she's an exceptional human and
you know, I think that she's the right set of
hands to transfer the mayoralty into.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Why are you not standing? Well?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
As I've explained to many people, you know, I've been
council now for four term sixteen years, eight of those
as a councilor for Ward three and then the last
eight as mayor, and I actually do believe in limited tenure.
So if you're going to believe in something, then you
should act out your beliefs. So I believe that it's
(02:18):
just time for me to go and do other things,
and of course there's a whole pile of reasons other
than just limited tenure behind that.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
What are some of those reasons?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
So over the years, you know, from the beginning of
my career on council, I've put up with some pretty
hectic bully in Peter to be honest, and particularly through
the later stages of the COVID Council, like twenty nineteen onwards,
was very very toxic. So I was dealing with a
toxic council, but I was also dealing with natural disaster,
(02:50):
on natural disaster and a COVID pandemic, So you know,
that's a lot of it's a lot of pressure, and
people don't actually see the part of the job that
goes on behind the scenes and what is required of
a mayor on a week to week, day to day basis.
You know, really it's a job that's three hundred and
sixty five days a year and it's twenty four to
(03:11):
seven because you're kind of on call for you know,
whatever disaster might be brewing and need the spokesperson of
the council to speak.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
To and all the while you're in the COVID and whatnot.
You weren't mire at that stage, No I was mayor.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
So I was elected in twenty sixteen and the first
natural disaster, or not the natural disaster, the first disaster
I dealt with.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
So I was elected in September.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And by the time you get through a little bit
of your training and whatever else, I've already been there
for two terms. So I've already done eight year. So
I was fairly across all the things that I needed
to do. It's just the mayor or stuff. Before we
have got to November. The first disaster that ever crossed
my desk was the death of three hundred dairy cows
in narraw and how are we going to deal with,
(03:58):
you know, managing that issue and managing that issue in
a discreet and useful way that was good for the
farmer but also a good outcome so is that kids
weren't traumatized by a truck full of dead animals driving
past their school.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
So I thought, oh, this is an interesting way to start.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
And little did I know that I would then end
up being the mayor that has been in place. So
I'm in New South Wales. Shoalhaven is in the top
five councils for natural disasters we've had fifteen in four years.
Easy to do the maths on that. That's averaging three
to four a year being in the top five. I'm
(04:38):
the only mayor out of all of those councils that
has had continuous service over that time, and that's pretty taxing.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You know, that takes a lot out of you.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
And when you believe in doing your best for the community,
you get to a point where you think, well, I
don't know if I'm actually feel like I'm doing my
best anymore.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
And you know, I feel worn down by the.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
You know, the stress of all of those natural disasters,
and I'd like to take a break and you know,
focus on me.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
When did that decision come? When did you sit back
and think to yourself, that's enough last year?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Yeah, So I've been sitting on the decision for over
a year and it came pretty clearly to me last year.
The other thing that a lot of people don't understand
as well is that, you know, when you're giving so
much of yourself to your role, it's kind of difficult.
Like the city wants a person who's passionate and wants
to give and give and give and give, because the
demands on a mayor's time are phenomenal and they've been
(05:40):
set up to have that expectation, particularly here in the
Shoal Haven. And so when you are a person who
has that kind of work ethic, what it also means
is that the relationships around you suffer. You know, you
don't get to spend the time that you want with
your family, you don't get to spend the time with
your friends. In fact, I don't really want to wake
(06:01):
up in another four years time and go, well, where
are all my friends gone, because they're still waiting for
me to respond to a text, or respond to a
phone call or whatever it is. You know, to maintain
friendships because they're two way streets. And if you want
to live in a community, you've got to be part
of a community. And in some ways being a mayor,
(06:22):
yes you're part of the community, but you're also separated
quite strongly because you've also got to protect yourself from
those people out there who have.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Nasty thoughts about you.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
There would be people out there that would be saying,
right now, that's a load of she's bailed out because
she's been getting a hard time.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Well, the thing that I would put back to them
is why do you think it's acceptable that people in
public roles are given a hard time in that way?
You know, I've been called names like you wouldn't believe
that have been just you know, sensational. I get accused
for doing things that I have zero power over, and
(07:07):
in fact, you know, I've said it to many people
in jest, but in some ways it's quite true. Is
that if I had all the power that people thought
that I have, I'd be like a fifty foot Godzilla
with the ability to control the weather and to be
running a you know, yeah, to be running this as
a completely different type of council than what it is now.
(07:30):
But I don't you know, everything in council takes at
least seven people to make a decision, and regardless of
whether you're one of those seven people or not, because
quite a lot of times during the COVID Council, even
though I was the mayor, I was in opposition in
opinion to the seven people who were making decisions. And
(07:50):
so you can imagine how difficult that is to turn
up to work and have to do things that you
didn't vote for. You don't think are right, you know,
you don't think that that's the right pathway for the city.
But that's the pathway that you're on regardless, and people
don't seem to understand that.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Peter.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
You're very stoic in many respects. You know, Amanda Finley
the mayor, and there's always been that strength there. But
I sense here that underneath there was real emotion about
the way you were being treated.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Ah, look, I'm a human being, Peter, at the end
of the day, and you can be stoic in your work.
You can absolutely be stoic. You can be stubborn, both
of those. I've got a high level of resilience. But
no matter how good your armor is and how fantastic
you're you know, as I've said to people, I've said,
(08:47):
it's a young kids. Actually, I've gone off to schools
where you know, you put the little dome up because
the stuff that's coming out of people's mouths that's directed.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
At you is not yours town.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
You know, the stuff that comes out of people's mouths
directed at me, that's their problem, that ain't my problem.
But some of those those barbs they hit, they might
leave a little stain behind, or a little dent in
your armor or whatever, and you do collect those over time,
and they yeah, you know, to sort of say I'm
(09:17):
completely and utterly impervious to all of that would be
a nonsense because it does impact upon you. And the
other part of that impacts on you is the people
that you love who see that stuff. And you know,
I've got two beautiful daughters and they don't.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Want me to be mere again.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
They're like, no, no, mum, we're sick of seeing that
stuff said about you that we know is not true.
You know, things like when my marriage broke down and
my then husband was trotted off to court for his
misdemeanors and his you know, his problems, not my problems.
He's an adult capable of running out his own stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
When those things were.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Splashed all over the you know, the front page of
the newspaper paper, that impacted on all of our family,
you know, extended family and beyond.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
And you know, then then.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Of course the commentaria come out and like, oh, she
must be a terrible looted because she can't even choose
a good husband. You know, like what kind of garbage
is that, you know? And so you can imagine how
that made my you know, my girls were much younger
than how that makes them feel because you know, they
live in a small community, they went to school in
(10:28):
a small community, and the whispers go around and they're.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Not you know, they're not stupid.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
You're listening to I Heart shoal Haven. Up next, Amanda
Finley has a few words of advice for the next
mirror of the shoal Haven and also how she really
feels about counsel's budget situation.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
I heard shoal Haven.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
I heard shoal Haven. Well, I heart shoal Haven. Loves
a good frank conversation and we're getting exactly that today
with outgoing Mayor of sean Haven, Amanda Findley. After sixteen
years as a counselor two terms as mayor, Amanda's getting
out of local government and she's already feeling relief after
making the decision to walk away, and given all that
(11:16):
she's gone through, and there was plenty of times things
gone very ugly, I wondered what advice you might have
to pass on to the next mayor. What's your word
to them? Is it going to be a tough counsel
over the next few years, especially with finances? Oh?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Absolutely, The last six months for this council actually so
for the you know, for the class of twenty one,
which was a two year, nine month term, So you know,
we've got to put that into perspective as well. Normally
terms go for four years. Two years and nine months
has been tumultuous. It's seen more natural disasters, poor in
(11:54):
people's plates, it saw the deterioration of the council's finances
and I was said it before to you that there
are a lot of people still running around in denial
that they were part of that we did as a
council what we did between twenty sixteen and today.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
In order to move the place forward.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
So whoever's going to sit in the seat from September
twenty twenty four onwards for the next four years, they're
going to have that challenge ahead of them as well.
And it's exactly the same challenges regardless of who's opening
and closing the door.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Council had the opportunity to make that tough decision a
month or so ago about finances. Council opted not to
impose the rate increase at all, which is out of
step with a lot of the councils across New South
Wales that had applied for and we granted rate variances.
(12:49):
When you look back at that, do you still think
that that was a wrong decision by council.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
No, I don't think it was a wrong decision because
what was very clear from the material that had been presented,
and I mean, this is my opinion and from what
I've been given, and I think I've got a fairly
solid record on finances during my time. There's a lot
of people who are going to go, oh, the place
is broken, it's all your fault. Well rubbish. You know,
(13:16):
when you look back at my voting pattern you will
actually see that, you know, it's not that at all.
So you know, we were given the information by a
specialist review body, by AEC, who don't just do reviews
for you know, they do reviews for lots of councils
and they do work for state government as well. And
(13:38):
AEC came very clearly and they said you need to
do all this and raise the rates. So the opportunity
that was on the table in January to raise raids,
there were thirteen people who all had a different opinion and.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
There was not going to be that. There was not
a mid.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Line for that, and so the better place to be
was where we are today, which is starting from a
and I called it in the recent meeting the ground
zero position, which allows counsel to regroup, the council's staff
to regroup to consider all of the other bits of
work that the council laws have asked off them. Mind you,
(14:20):
you know, let's be real here that the staff would
have looked at them anyway. You know, the professional staff
at shoal Haven are.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Quite incredible people.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
They would look at things like land sales. They would
look at things like service reviews to make sure that
you know, where is counsel over servicing or where is
council underservicing?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
How can we get that back into balance. All of
those things.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Get looked at, and then that opportunity to reset on
the pathway for a rate rise will sit with the
next council in their first two years where they don't
feel so threatened, because let's be real that the issue
of a rate rise as some counselors feeling threatened about
(15:02):
their electability, but really what they should be more concerned
about is the fact that we've had to put on
pause a whole bunch of capital works that the community
we're expecting, and that now that's not going to happen.
So we're going to see twelve more months of pain,
which is quite evident in the budget that was adopted.
But at least it gives clear air to the next
(15:25):
Council to make that tough decision.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
There's going to be a number of candidates putting their
hands up that where some of your loudest critics. Be
interesting to see how they perform in the role if
they're elected, because it's easy to sit on one side
of the chamber and then you've got to hop into
the hot seat.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah, and look what some of the critics don't understand
but they think they do, is that trying to coax
people around to a way of thinking is part of
the role. So, you know, I think that people would
have also said, get accused of some really amazing stuff, Peter.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
It's quite incredible.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
You know, people have said that I've pushed this hard
green agenda, and it's like showing the evidence.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
You know what.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
We changed the street lights to be LED's and saved
the council three million dollars in electricity costs.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Oh my goodness, that's radical, you know. Oh, yes, Well, we.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Changed the issue around the tree rule Oh my god goodness,
that's radical because you know, now people can ring up
and say there's a tree being chopped down and someone
actually knows about it, you know. So these I've been
very pragmatic over my time in the chair, and it's
really easy to sit on the sideline and throw hand grenades.
(16:38):
But when you've got to roll out pragmatism and do
your best to maintain relationships with the CEO, the senior staff,
the counsel, laws and the community, that's a lot of
that's a lot of stuff in the air to juggle.
So my advice to the incoming mayor is find a
good sense of humor because if you don't have one,
(16:59):
you're going to you're gonna need one to get you through.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
And from the outgoing mayor, then where to from here?
For Amanda Findley, Well, you.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Won't find me in the scholl Haven for a little while.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
I've got my ticket book.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
To go to Ireland, to go and see my grandmother
and go and do some adventuring and go live a
life while I'm in that sweet spot between, you know,
having to care for olders or care for babies from
my future grandchildren to be.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
One hopes so Is that a career end or for.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Politics for now? Yes, it's a career end.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Yeah, And I've been like I said, I've been very
grateful for the opportunities that the community have given me
by trusting me to be the mayor of the city.
And I greatly appreciate that. I've got such gratitude for
this being given this opportunity to have the role. You know,
at any one given time there are only five hundred
and thirty six mayors across Australia, so you know it's
(18:01):
easy to do the mass on that. It's a fairly
privileged position. And yeah, I feel very grateful.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Are you counting down the days just quietly?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
That's where we leave our conversation with Amanda Finley, who's
hopeful the shoal Haven community will also remember the positive
contribution she's made during her sixteen years in local government.
But for now, she's seeing things through, tidying up loose
ends and very much looking forward to a trip to
Ireland to catch up with family and friends and having
(18:36):
time to stop and ponder what her next move might be.
That's I heart shal Haven for now Proudly supported by
the New South Wales Government, I'm Pete Andrea catching next time.
I heartshal Haven
I heard shoal Haven.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I've put up with.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Some pretty hectic bully in Peter to be honest, particularly
through the later stages of the COVID council like twenty
nineteen onwards was very very toxic. So I was dealing
with a toxic council. But I was also dealing with
natural disaster on natural disaster and a COVID pandemic, So
you know, that's a lot of that's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Good A. I'm Pete Andrea. And as the shal Haven
prepares for the September local government elections, one of our
region's highest profile polleys has decided enough is enough. Quite frankly,
it's all become just too hard. Shoal Haven Mayor Amanda
Finley won't be standing for re election after serving on
council since two thousand and eight, including two terms in
(00:48):
the top job across the states one hundred and twenty
eight local government areas. Miss Finley is one of two
Greens mayors, and her political leanings have at times divided
the community and led to some fearce online and trolling
which have been very personal. Amanda Finley does have a
thick skin and at one stage did run as a
(01:08):
Greens candidate at state level, but the shine's gone off
the allure of political life for this fisty fifty four
year old, especially after watching the impact it's had on
her family and personal life.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
So when September fourteen comes around, I'm not going to
be an option on the ballot for people to vote for.
I'm going to be very ablely replaced by Kay Gartner
from the Greens. And many will remember Kay from a
stint on council that she did from twenty sixteen on
the five year three month Council the COVID Council through
(01:43):
to twenty twenty one, and she's an exceptional human and
you know, I think that she's the right set of
hands to transfer the mayoralty into.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Why are you not standing? Well?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
As I've explained to many people, you know, I've been
council now for four term sixteen years, eight of those
as a councilor for Ward three and then the last
eight as mayor, and I actually do believe in limited tenure.
So if you're going to believe in something, then you
should act out your beliefs. So I believe that it's
(02:18):
just time for me to go and do other things,
and of course there's a whole pile of reasons other
than just limited tenure behind that.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
What are some of those reasons?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
So over the years, you know, from the beginning of
my career on council, I've put up with some pretty
hectic bully in Peter to be honest, and particularly through
the later stages of the COVID Council, like twenty nineteen onwards,
was very very toxic. So I was dealing with a
toxic council, but I was also dealing with natural disaster,
(02:50):
on natural disaster and a COVID pandemic, So you know,
that's a lot of it's a lot of pressure, and
people don't actually see the part of the job that
goes on behind the scenes and what is required of
a mayor on a week to week, day to day basis.
You know, really it's a job that's three hundred and
sixty five days a year and it's twenty four to
(03:11):
seven because you're kind of on call for you know,
whatever disaster might be brewing and need the spokesperson of
the council to speak.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
To and all the while you're in the COVID and whatnot.
You weren't mire at that stage, No I was mayor.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
So I was elected in twenty sixteen and the first
natural disaster, or not the natural disaster, the first disaster
I dealt with.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
So I was elected in September.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And by the time you get through a little bit
of your training and whatever else, I've already been there
for two terms. So I've already done eight year. So
I was fairly across all the things that I needed
to do. It's just the mayor or stuff. Before we
have got to November. The first disaster that ever crossed
my desk was the death of three hundred dairy cows
in narraw and how are we going to deal with,
(03:58):
you know, managing that issue and managing that issue in
a discreet and useful way that was good for the
farmer but also a good outcome so is that kids
weren't traumatized by a truck full of dead animals driving
past their school.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
So I thought, oh, this is an interesting way to start.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
And little did I know that I would then end
up being the mayor that has been in place. So
I'm in New South Wales. Shoalhaven is in the top
five councils for natural disasters we've had fifteen in four years.
Easy to do the maths on that. That's averaging three
to four a year being in the top five. I'm
(04:38):
the only mayor out of all of those councils that
has had continuous service over that time, and that's pretty taxing.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You know, that takes a lot out of you.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
And when you believe in doing your best for the community,
you get to a point where you think, well, I
don't know if I'm actually feel like I'm doing my
best anymore.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
And you know, I feel worn down by the.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
You know, the stress of all of those natural disasters,
and I'd like to take a break and you know,
focus on me.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
When did that decision come? When did you sit back
and think to yourself, that's enough last year?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Yeah, So I've been sitting on the decision for over
a year and it came pretty clearly to me last year.
The other thing that a lot of people don't understand
as well is that, you know, when you're giving so
much of yourself to your role, it's kind of difficult.
Like the city wants a person who's passionate and wants
to give and give and give and give, because the
demands on a mayor's time are phenomenal and they've been
(05:40):
set up to have that expectation, particularly here in the
Shoal Haven. And so when you are a person who
has that kind of work ethic, what it also means
is that the relationships around you suffer. You know, you
don't get to spend the time that you want with
your family, you don't get to spend the time with
your friends. In fact, I don't really want to wake
(06:01):
up in another four years time and go, well, where
are all my friends gone, because they're still waiting for
me to respond to a text, or respond to a
phone call or whatever it is. You know, to maintain
friendships because they're two way streets. And if you want
to live in a community, you've got to be part
of a community. And in some ways being a mayor,
(06:22):
yes you're part of the community, but you're also separated
quite strongly because you've also got to protect yourself from
those people out there who have.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Nasty thoughts about you.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
There would be people out there that would be saying,
right now, that's a load of she's bailed out because
she's been getting a hard time.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Well, the thing that I would put back to them
is why do you think it's acceptable that people in
public roles are given a hard time in that way?
You know, I've been called names like you wouldn't believe
that have been just you know, sensational. I get accused
for doing things that I have zero power over, and
(07:07):
in fact, you know, I've said it to many people
in jest, but in some ways it's quite true. Is
that if I had all the power that people thought
that I have, I'd be like a fifty foot Godzilla
with the ability to control the weather and to be
running a you know, yeah, to be running this as
a completely different type of council than what it is now.
(07:30):
But I don't you know, everything in council takes at
least seven people to make a decision, and regardless of
whether you're one of those seven people or not, because
quite a lot of times during the COVID Council, even
though I was the mayor, I was in opposition in
opinion to the seven people who were making decisions. And
(07:50):
so you can imagine how difficult that is to turn
up to work and have to do things that you
didn't vote for. You don't think are right, you know,
you don't think that that's the right pathway for the city.
But that's the pathway that you're on regardless, and people
don't seem to understand that.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Peter.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
You're very stoic in many respects. You know, Amanda Finley
the mayor, and there's always been that strength there. But
I sense here that underneath there was real emotion about
the way you were being treated.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Ah, look, I'm a human being, Peter, at the end
of the day, and you can be stoic in your work.
You can absolutely be stoic. You can be stubborn, both
of those. I've got a high level of resilience. But
no matter how good your armor is and how fantastic
you're you know, as I've said to people, I've said,
(08:47):
it's a young kids. Actually, I've gone off to schools
where you know, you put the little dome up because
the stuff that's coming out of people's mouths that's directed.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
At you is not yours town.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
You know, the stuff that comes out of people's mouths
directed at me, that's their problem, that ain't my problem.
But some of those those barbs they hit, they might
leave a little stain behind, or a little dent in
your armor or whatever, and you do collect those over time,
and they yeah, you know, to sort of say I'm
(09:17):
completely and utterly impervious to all of that would be
a nonsense because it does impact upon you. And the
other part of that impacts on you is the people
that you love who see that stuff. And you know,
I've got two beautiful daughters and they don't.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Want me to be mere again.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
They're like, no, no, mum, we're sick of seeing that
stuff said about you that we know is not true.
You know, things like when my marriage broke down and
my then husband was trotted off to court for his
misdemeanors and his you know, his problems, not my problems.
He's an adult capable of running out his own stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
When those things were.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Splashed all over the you know, the front page of
the newspaper paper, that impacted on all of our family,
you know, extended family and beyond.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
And you know, then then.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Of course the commentaria come out and like, oh, she
must be a terrible looted because she can't even choose
a good husband. You know, like what kind of garbage
is that, you know? And so you can imagine how
that made my you know, my girls were much younger
than how that makes them feel because you know, they
live in a small community, they went to school in
(10:28):
a small community, and the whispers go around and they're.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Not you know, they're not stupid.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
You're listening to I Heart shoal Haven. Up next, Amanda
Finley has a few words of advice for the next
mirror of the shoal Haven and also how she really
feels about counsel's budget situation.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
I heard shoal Haven.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
I heard shoal Haven. Well, I heart shoal Haven. Loves
a good frank conversation and we're getting exactly that today
with outgoing Mayor of sean Haven, Amanda Findley. After sixteen
years as a counselor two terms as mayor, Amanda's getting
out of local government and she's already feeling relief after
making the decision to walk away, and given all that
(11:16):
she's gone through, and there was plenty of times things
gone very ugly, I wondered what advice you might have
to pass on to the next mayor. What's your word
to them? Is it going to be a tough counsel
over the next few years, especially with finances? Oh?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Absolutely, The last six months for this council actually so
for the you know, for the class of twenty one,
which was a two year, nine month term, So you know,
we've got to put that into perspective as well. Normally
terms go for four years. Two years and nine months
has been tumultuous. It's seen more natural disasters, poor in
(11:54):
people's plates, it saw the deterioration of the council's finances
and I was said it before to you that there
are a lot of people still running around in denial
that they were part of that we did as a
council what we did between twenty sixteen and today.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
In order to move the place forward.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
So whoever's going to sit in the seat from September
twenty twenty four onwards for the next four years, they're
going to have that challenge ahead of them as well.
And it's exactly the same challenges regardless of who's opening
and closing the door.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Council had the opportunity to make that tough decision a
month or so ago about finances. Council opted not to
impose the rate increase at all, which is out of
step with a lot of the councils across New South
Wales that had applied for and we granted rate variances.
(12:49):
When you look back at that, do you still think
that that was a wrong decision by council.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
No, I don't think it was a wrong decision because
what was very clear from the material that had been presented,
and I mean, this is my opinion and from what
I've been given, and I think I've got a fairly
solid record on finances during my time. There's a lot
of people who are going to go, oh, the place
is broken, it's all your fault. Well rubbish. You know,
(13:16):
when you look back at my voting pattern you will
actually see that, you know, it's not that at all.
So you know, we were given the information by a
specialist review body, by AEC, who don't just do reviews
for you know, they do reviews for lots of councils
and they do work for state government as well. And
(13:38):
AEC came very clearly and they said you need to
do all this and raise the rates. So the opportunity
that was on the table in January to raise raids,
there were thirteen people who all had a different opinion and.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
There was not going to be that. There was not
a mid.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Line for that, and so the better place to be
was where we are today, which is starting from a
and I called it in the recent meeting the ground
zero position, which allows counsel to regroup, the council's staff
to regroup to consider all of the other bits of
work that the council laws have asked off them. Mind you,
(14:20):
you know, let's be real here that the staff would
have looked at them anyway. You know, the professional staff
at shoal Haven are.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Quite incredible people.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
They would look at things like land sales. They would
look at things like service reviews to make sure that
you know, where is counsel over servicing or where is
council underservicing?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
How can we get that back into balance. All of
those things.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Get looked at, and then that opportunity to reset on
the pathway for a rate rise will sit with the
next council in their first two years where they don't
feel so threatened, because let's be real that the issue
of a rate rise as some counselors feeling threatened about
(15:02):
their electability, but really what they should be more concerned
about is the fact that we've had to put on
pause a whole bunch of capital works that the community
we're expecting, and that now that's not going to happen.
So we're going to see twelve more months of pain,
which is quite evident in the budget that was adopted.
But at least it gives clear air to the next
(15:25):
Council to make that tough decision.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
There's going to be a number of candidates putting their
hands up that where some of your loudest critics. Be
interesting to see how they perform in the role if
they're elected, because it's easy to sit on one side
of the chamber and then you've got to hop into
the hot seat.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah, and look what some of the critics don't understand
but they think they do, is that trying to coax
people around to a way of thinking is part of
the role. So, you know, I think that people would
have also said, get accused of some really amazing stuff, Peter.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
It's quite incredible.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
You know, people have said that I've pushed this hard
green agenda, and it's like showing the evidence.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
You know what.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
We changed the street lights to be LED's and saved
the council three million dollars in electricity costs.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Oh my goodness, that's radical, you know. Oh, yes, Well, we.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Changed the issue around the tree rule Oh my god goodness,
that's radical because you know, now people can ring up
and say there's a tree being chopped down and someone
actually knows about it, you know. So these I've been
very pragmatic over my time in the chair, and it's
really easy to sit on the sideline and throw hand grenades.
(16:38):
But when you've got to roll out pragmatism and do
your best to maintain relationships with the CEO, the senior staff,
the counsel, laws and the community, that's a lot of
that's a lot of stuff in the air to juggle.
So my advice to the incoming mayor is find a
good sense of humor because if you don't have one,
(16:59):
you're going to you're gonna need one to get you through.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
And from the outgoing mayor, then where to from here?
For Amanda Findley, Well, you.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Won't find me in the scholl Haven for a little while.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
I've got my ticket book.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
To go to Ireland, to go and see my grandmother
and go and do some adventuring and go live a
life while I'm in that sweet spot between, you know,
having to care for olders or care for babies from
my future grandchildren to be.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
One hopes so Is that a career end or for.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Politics for now? Yes, it's a career end.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Yeah, And I've been like I said, I've been very
grateful for the opportunities that the community have given me
by trusting me to be the mayor of the city.
And I greatly appreciate that. I've got such gratitude for
this being given this opportunity to have the role. You know,
at any one given time there are only five hundred
and thirty six mayors across Australia, so you know it's
(18:01):
easy to do the mass on that. It's a fairly
privileged position. And yeah, I feel very grateful.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Are you counting down the days just quietly?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
That's where we leave our conversation with Amanda Finley, who's
hopeful the shoal Haven community will also remember the positive
contribution she's made during her sixteen years in local government.
But for now, she's seeing things through, tidying up loose
ends and very much looking forward to a trip to
Ireland to catch up with family and friends and having
(18:36):
time to stop and ponder what her next move might be.
That's I heart shal Haven for now Proudly supported by
the New South Wales Government, I'm Pete Andrea catching next time.
I heartshal Haven
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