Mitchell Shire Council in Central Victoria has appointed Catherine Watts as its first Community Relations Officer (CRO). Catherine will liaise widely with local groups and individuals to better collect and disseminate information, enabling Council to improve the way it delivers services to the community. She will also oversee civic events, including citizenship ceremonies, annual celebrations and the sister city relationship Mitchell has with Honbetsu in Japan.
Mitchell Shire CEO, Bill Braithwaite, said with Mitchell Shire believed to be the only Victorian Council to have a dedicated CRO, this is an exciting time for Council, creating new opportunities and expectations.
“Council believes that the way to deliver the right services in the right way to the right people is to involve them in the decision making, implementation and evaluation of those services,” he said.
“Traditional public consultation and community development will always remain an important part of service planning, but having a dedicated CRO means we’ll be a bit quicker on our feet and can put out spot fires before they grow into bush fires.
“This position gives us a greater capacity to promote and disseminate information ranging from Australia Day nominations and our Civic Pride Program to planning scheme changes and our road grading schedule.”
The CRO is part of the Communications Unit and Executive Services Department, with access to the CEO and senior Council staff as required. Catherine will work directly with key Council stakeholders, support other staff in managing these relationships and have the freedom to take on referrals and special cases as they arise.
The CRO will operate both as a Council ambassador at large and as an early warning system to head off issues before they become crises. In the first role, the CRO will be the human face of Council, uniquely placed to provide information and an extra
yard of customer service where it is needed most. The second role involves being the eyes and ears of Council, recognising potential problems early and liaising with senior officers to diffuse them. This includes identifying legitimate concerns and pushing for outcomes internally to create positive word of mouth and challenge the stereotype of Local Government bureaucracy.
“I suspect that the growing number of community relations officers in other areas of government and the corporate sector will expand over time to include Local Government,” Bill Braithwaite said. “When results are measured by community satisfaction, then the community must be at the core of everything we do.”
For further information contact Daniel Scoullar at Mitchell Shire Council
on (03) 5734 6359.
