Recognising councils’ top performers

At the recent National General Assembly of Local Government in Canberra, Local Government FOCUS invited delegates to nominate staff members or teams from their council who are excelling in their professional field by improving their council’s operations and enhancing services for their community. Similar to previous years, we received a range of quality entries and would like to thank delegates who submitted nominations.

From the entries received, six staff members and six teams have been selected. Over the next six months, FOCUS will showcase the winners, with one team and one individual featured in each edition, commencing on page 8 in this edition.

The 2011 winners, followed by their nominator, are listed below.

Council teams

• Resource Recovery Team, Bankstown City Council, New South Wales – Luke Nicholls, General Manager

• Track Team, Kingborough Council, Tasmania – Councillor Flora Fox

• Human Resources Team, Longreach Regional Council, Queensland – Michelle McFadyen, CEO

• Administration Department, Shire of Denmark, Western Australia – Dale Stewart, CEO

• Community Planning, Partnerships and Performance Team, Darebin City Council, Victoria – Mayor Diana Asmar

• Water Team, City of Playford, South Australia – Tim Jackson, CEO.

Individual staff members

• Tony McCann, Executive Officer, Tamworth Regional Council, New South Wales – Councillors Juanita Wilson and Helen Tickle

• Lesley Howell, Secretary to the Perth Airport Municipalities Group, and Admin Officer, City of Belmont, Western Australia – Stuart Cole, CEO

• Tony Lickiss, Manager Engineering Services, Cook Shire Council, Queensland – Mayor Peter Scott

• Leeah Daley, Organisational Development Director, Gwydir Shire Council, New South Wales – Max Eastcott, General Manager

• Sonya Farrow, Coordinator of Sustainability, City of Stirling, Western Australia – Mayor David Boothman

• Leigh McCallum, Executive Officer – Corporate projects, Moorabool Shire Council, Victoria – Mayor Pat Griffin.