“It’s a huge honour.”
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Elected onto new MidCoast Council, Claire Pontin is heading into her first term as a councillor in local government.
She acknowledges it will be a steep learning curve and one she is looking forward to.
“I’m a quick learner and I’ve been doing lots of reading already. I’ve also sat in on council meetings previously.
“I’m looking forward to being briefed by the general manager and his staff.”
Claire said she has previously worked in a role which involved working professionally with a board of governors, which is the way she sees the councillor role.
She was number 2 on David Keegan’s Country Labor Group J ticket and secured a seat due to the high number of votes for the group.
Claire, who moved to the Hallidays Point area 12 years ago, spent 30 years in the NSW and then federal government.
She first trained in science and then added economics and business. Her early career was natural resource management in national parks and fisheries. Later she was general manager and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
She has skills in financial analysis, strategic business development and governance. She negotiated federal funding arrangements with State Governments; represented Australia in international negotiations; helped establish the first joint Australia - New Zealand government agency and worked closely with an independent professional board of directors.
She said one key thing with the new council is “bringing three areas together and make sure everyone in MidCoast Council feels they get a say and are taken into account.”
She is keen on seeing council do community consultation well. “From what I’ve seen they’ve been doing it well so it’s looking at how we can add to that so it results in an improvement people can see.”
She adds that council needs to look at how it can best use the money from rates. “It’s got to stretch a long way.”
Claire is one of two councillors “new to the game completely” and she said bringing experienced people into a new setting is refreshing too.
“It’s really important council pulls together. Even the more experienced councillors who have done the job before have done it in a different situation so as a combined group it is very important and I have every expectation we can do that.
“It’s a huge honour and I’m excited about what we can do as a collective.
“I love the Mid Coast area. I came here by choice 12 years ago. There is a lot of opportunity and I’m full of hope for the future of MidCoast Council,” she said.