Not sure who to vote for in Mount Waverley Ward? We put the tough questions to all candidates to help you make up your mind - read on for their answers. All candidates have been sent the same questionnaire, which we will post as we receive them - check back here regularly for updates. Candidates have been given until October 6 to submit their responses.
MOUNT WAVERLEY WARD
Ashwood, Mount Waverley, and part of Chadstone
2008 election results:
Elected: Joy Banerji 5385 (not recontesting), Tom Morrissey 4375, Jieh-Yung Lo 2773
Enrolment: 34,788
Formal votes: 26,373
Informal: 1123
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Name: Aditya Kuthalam
Suburb of residence: Glen Waverley
Occupation: Owner of an architectural practice
Ward nominated for: Mount Waverley
How long have you lived in Monash? 18 Years.
Have you run for council/ been a councillor before, or any other level of government? If so, please list details (where, when, length of time, etc). No.
Are you/have you been a member of a political party? If yes, which party? If no, with which political party do you most identify? Australian Labor Party.
Are you or have you ever been a member of an political interest or lobby group? No.
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? Yes.
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? I am funding my own campaign and have paid for my own nomination fee.
Where will you be campaigning? In and around the Mount Waverley ward.
Who will you direct your preferences to? My Indication of Preferences:
1 KUTHALAM, Aditya
2 LO, Jieh-Yung
3 LITTLE, Brian
4 DISSANAYAKE, Mihiri
5 DENNIS, Catherine Louise
6 PETERS, Robert Wayne
7 O’CONNOR, Sharon
8 KOUTSIKOS, Stella
9 MORRISSEY, Tom
10 JAEGER, Jennifer
11 HARVEY, Mitchell
12 SIFREDI, Vicki
13 PATERSON, Rebecca
14 TAMVAKIS, Alexander
Describe your involvement in the local community. Volunteered at community events and aided council officers via a research paper to foster greater community consultation and dialogue. Always out doing my part in the local community on Clean Up Australia Day.
What do you think being a councillor involves?
- Listening to and responding to residents
- Always to be approachable
- Strong leadership with the attitude of serving in order to lead
- Making the right decision (not the popular decision) quickly. This is to be done in a manner that is sensitive and respectful to various interest groups who may have strong and opposing views on critical issues.
- Fiscal management of council funds
- Being active and having a thorough knowledge in all areas of civic life such as Community Development, Planning, Recreation, Health, Education etc
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward?
- Protecting residential neighbourhood character of the Mount Waverley ward from inappropriate development whilst to encourage greater development in activity and transport hubs which will benefit local businesses.
- Developing more transport initiatives for local residents
- Delivering more funding to making the Mount Waverley Ward improve on sustainability initiatives and keep it an environmentally friendly and liveable area
- Encouraging greater cultural and recreational activities to have healthy and happy citizens
- Encouraging greater mobility for senior citizens through more car parking options
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash?
- Innapropriate Development
- Increased rates which hit the hip pocket of local residents who should not be further burdened in the current economic climate
- Managing the current age and demographic change in Monash in regards to infrastructure and services.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? This issue is very close to home with me and I believe that my position as a designer and an owner of an architectural practice will enable me to provide you with an informed position. Any multi-storey development needs to be sensitive to its respective neighbourhood characteristic and appropriate for the site in which it sits on. A clever design will always be able to push the often times prescriptive planning controls and will add good character to the neighbourhood. A terrible design will do the opposite even within the confines of prescriptive planning controls. My hope is that all passed and rejected developments meet the above criteria.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? Once again something that is close to home for me. The VPO is good in that it protects our existing vegetation and keeps our suburbs green. The VPO is not so good in that it is too prescriptive and therefore can hinder any appropriate removal of vegetation that may arise from development or landscaping in one’s own backyard. There should be grounds for flexibility in each case where the VPO is triggered and this should be sorted out for free via a pre-application meeting with a council planner.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? Any issue where the state government overrides the council. One such example was earlier in the year when Business Zones were changed to Commercial Zones without adequate consultation of local councils in Victoria. This can also occur in area of civic life where Big Brother governments seek to micromanage and over rule free thinking, local and independent councils.
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Name: Tom Morrissey
Suburb of residence: Mount Waverley
Occupation: Master Plumber
Ward nominated for: MountWaverley
How long have you lived in Monash? Forty-five years.
Have you run for council/ been a councillor before, or any other level of government? If so, please list details (where, when, length of time, etc). Councillor for City of Waverley 1990-1994. Current Councillor for City of Monash – Mayor twice.
Are you/have you been a member of a political party? If yes, which party? If no, with which political party do you most identify? No, but I support Liberal ideas.
Are you or have you ever been a member of a political interest or lobby group? I have lobbied Council issues at State and Federal levels for better funding for our City.
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? Yes – and fully commit.
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? I budget within my means. I am funding myself and I paid my own nomination fee.
Where will you be campaigning? All areas of Mount Waverley Ward and most parts of Monash.
Who will you direct your preferences to? The best candidates in Mount Waverley Ward.
Describe your involvement in the local community.
- Standing Councillor for Mount Waverley local sports clubs.
- Councillor rep. for Damper Creek, Valley Reserve.
- Service Clubs – formerly Apex and now Rotary Club of Waverley.
- Justice of the Peace.
What do you think being a councillor involves?
Helping residents with all issues for better outcomes.
Being accessible and transparent.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward?
Our environment-sensitive design principles encouraged in urban design and planning.
Maintain our open space where people live and work.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? There are many issues in running a large city like Monash. It is a business with a clear objective to keep the City financially safe and sound.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? I have worked, and will continue to work, to keep high rise developments at a level that does not change our environment and character.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? I support our vegetation protection overlay to stop developers clearing sites of mature trees. I will work with ratepayers to prune trees and remove dangerous ones with the help of our Council arborist.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? Being a Councillor, one must not let an issue to unanswered.
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Name: Rebecca Paterson
Suburb of residence: Burwood
Occupation: Stay at home Mum, background in insurance
Ward nominated for: Mt Waverley
How long have you lived in Monash? 8 years, I moved to the area from my family farm in country Victoria after I married.
Have you run for council/ been a councillor before, or any other level of government? If so, please list details (where, when, length of time, etc). No.
Are you/have you been a member of a political party? If yes, which party? If no, with which political party do you most identify? Independent. Never been a member of a political party. I don’t believe that council is a place for party politics. We are there to represent the community, not a party agenda.
Are you or have you ever been a member of an political interest or lobby group? I formed a local residents group to lobby Council and VCAT for alterations to plans to build a 3 storey building on the old Volcano Joe’s site on Warrigal Rd, which would have had a massive effect on those properties abutting the site. We were successful in making several changes which lessened the negative impact the building would have on the neighbourhood.
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? Yes, that is my intention.
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? I have a small amount of money to use for the cost of printing some fliers. I am not funded by a political party. I paid my own nomination fee.
Where will you be campaigning? Around the Mt.Waverley ward, trying to talk to as many residents and community members as I can. I am available via email or phone: mt.waverleyteam@gmail.com or 0404 001 494
Who will you direct your preferences to? Other genuine Independents: Tom Morrissey, Catherine Dennis and Robert Peters. I don’t want to see the council run by a Labour or Liberal bloc.
Describe your involvement in the local community. As a family we take advantage of many of the great facilities in Monash, including parks, playgrounds, bike and walking tracks, pools, libraries, maternal & child health centres, mothers groups, kindergartens, child care and family day care as well as shopping strips, shopping centres and local businesses. I pay rates, have a dog and my husband works around Monash. I volunteer with Neighbourhood Watch. We are experiencing a lot of Monash, and through these experiences I have seen what’s great about Monash, but I can see a lot of things that need improvement, and that is why I’m putting my hand up.
What do you think being a councillor involves? I think a Councillor has 2 main responsibilities; firstly, to be available to their community, understand their needs and advocate for them (not for their own agenda) and secondly, to responsibly manage the budget whilst providing quality services and infrastructure and keeping rates as low as possible.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward?
• Keeping rates as low as possible
• Providing value for our rate dollar through quality amenities and services
• The increasing cost of living
• Our ageing population
• Stopping inappropriate development and maintaining our Garden City character
• Providing more 3 and 4 yr old kinder places, and quality, affordable childcare, day care and occasional care
• Maintaining safe roads and paths for all users
• Safe and convenient public transport
• The environment and sustainability
• Preventing and cleaning up graffiti
• Efficient and responsible waste management
• Encouraging business growth
• Population growth
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? I think the biggest concern facing Monash at the moment is the Councils debt level, which is compounded by the unforeseen 12 million dollars they need to pay to meet their obligations under a deferred benefits super scheme. Debt has grown under the current council. Currently it looks as if both the debt level and the super payments are set to grow further, so it is going to be tough to manage these obligations with the challenge of keeping the rates in Monash the lowest in Melbourne. All the issues facing the Mt. Waverley ward are equally of great concern to the entire City of Monash.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? I am against inappropriate development. I believe the issues around multi-storey development will continue to plague the area in the future, as population growth increases the demand for housing in Melbourne’s inner suburbs. I think any development regardless of size should not detract from nearby properties or amenities and it should enhance the look and character of the area. I think it is time to review our planning scheme, and make sure we have clear guidelines on multi-storey development, and how and where they can be undertaken. I think we also need to review the guidelines in relation to planning, parking and traffic congestion.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? I am disappointed that after spending money on a mailout survey of residents, the residents’ concerns were not important enough for the Council for them to listen despite only 15% wanting to retain the VPO as it was. I think this indicates that some of the current Councillors aren’t listening to residents. My perspective is that we should revisit the survey results and make a decision based on environmental sustainability and the views of the community. I believe we need to do more to help residents and business owners maintain large trees so they stay healthy and dropping branches and leaf litter don’t become a danger to property or passers-by.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? I will not be able to make changes on those things that are legislated at a state or federal level, but I’m there for the community, and will listen to any concerns and do my best to advocate for them at any level.
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Name: Catherine Dennis
Suburb of residence: Mount Waverley
Occupation: Fulltime Environment Student/Foster carer/Self employed
Ward nominated for: Mount Waverley
How long have you lived in Monash? 19 years
Have you run for council/ been a councillor before, or any other level of government? If so, please list details (where, when, length of time, etc). NO
Are you/have you been a member of a political party? If yes, which party? If no, with which political party do you most identify? NO / None
Are you or have you ever been a member of a political interest or lobby group? NO
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? YES
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? Not much of a budget, I paid for my own nomination.
Where will you be campaigning? Locally in Mount Waverley, Ashwood, shops and community venues.
Who will you direct your preferences to? I found the whole preference process to be quite an eye opener, and if I had the opportunity to change my preferences now that every candidate has revealed theirs, I would! I made my preferences based on what I believed to be honest statements from other candidates. I was also very disappointed that 3 female candidates did not even provide a contact phone number to discuss views with. My preference list for what it’s worth is on the VEC website.
Describe your involvement in the local community.
• Current member of the City of Monash Environmental Advisory Committee.
• Foster carer with WEAC, helping teenagers going through a rough time, by caring for them with the help of my own 3 boys in our home.
• Very active member of CLAG, the community group that saved the Oakleigh pool.
• Clean up Australia day organiser.
• Playgroup co-ordinator.
• Very active in primary school fundraising and school council member.
• A great friend and support for many residents over the years.
What do you think being a councillor involves? Making decisions that should benefit the community at large. Being able to take a common-sense approach to issues and avoid getting lost in the emotional battles.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward? Building development, youth and family services, aged care, getting the balance right for all residents.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? Youth and family welfare, single or both parents working and tough financial times places a lot of stress on families, and teenagers aren’t always equipped to cope. Graffiti is a real issue for many residents, and helping our most at risk teenagers through some tough times will go a long way to curbing street tagging. I see every tag on a wall as the signature of a broken heart. A lot of money goes towards sport I would like to see more focus on social activities for teens.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? My position on multi-story developments is on a case by case basis, a three story building in one street is not necessarily appropriate in another.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? As a student of Environmental studies, I have a strong desire to see our mature trees kept, but at the same time I don’t believe trees that are old should be kept regardless, I believe each tree and the reason for its removal has to be assessed individually.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? Decisions made by past councils, some cannot be undone, but perhaps we can work towards ensuring decisions that upset residents in the past can be prevented in the future.
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Name: Mitchell Harvey
Suburb of residence: Mt. Waverley
Occupation: Student
Ward nominated for: Mt. Waverley Ward
How long have you lived in Monash? I have lived all of my 19 years in Mt. Waverley.
Have you run for council/ been a councillor before, or any other level of government? If so, please list details (where, when, length of time, etc). No
Are you/have you been a member of a political party? If yes, which party? If no, with which political party do you most identify? Yes, the Liberal Party
Are you or have you ever been a member of an political interest or lobby group? No
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? Yes
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? My campaign and nomination fee are entirely self funded.
Where will you be campaigning? Throughout the whole of Mt. Waverley Ward.
Who will you direct your preferences to? Please refer to the Victorian Electoral Commission website (under 2012 City of Monash Council Elections).
Describe your involvement in the local community. I have been deeply involved in the local community. Having gone to Primary School in Mt. Waverley and continuing to study in the Monash area, I have developed many connections and friends throughout the ward. I have also worked in the local community at the Electra Park Medical Centre. I have played many years of sport in the Mt. Waverley area, particularly Hockey for Mt. Waverley. Finally, I am involved in my local church.
What do you think being a councillor involves? I believe being a councillor involves engaging with the concerns of the local community as much as possible. I see the role of a councillor as being someone who will put their community and the people that they represent ahead of all interest groups or other bodies. I believe that to do a good job, a councillor must be willing to dedicate himself to meeting people in his local area and connecting with all constituents, while at the same time being willing to make the tough decisions necessary to look after the city in the long term.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward? Monash Council must continue to fight hard against graffiti, vandalism and theft in Mt. Waverley Ward. I was personally touched by this issue recently when my car was stolen. We also need to guarantee that rate payer’s money is used wisely in the Mt. Waverley area to avoid any further cost blow outs and wasteful spending. I also believe that we need to work hard to fight against all unreasonable rate increases. Finally, I believe that Monash needs to curb the inappropriate rate of residential development in the Mt. Waverley area.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? Good economic management is probably the most important issue facing Monash. Dealing with the deficit, fighting rate increases to ensure that the council lives within its means and avoiding future cost blow outs would be my top priorities. I would also consider infrastructure investment and town planning to be very important issues for Monash in the long term.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? I strongly that Monash ought to protect its wonderful neighbourhood character. Multi-storey development can put this quality at considerable risk. However, I understand that people do need places to live and that development within reason ought to be protected. Any decision council makes on such development must be made cautiously, on a case by case basis and with full knowledge of all the facts.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? I would support the VPO. We need to ensure that we need to put the safety of our residents first, and thus we need to give people the freedom to prune and manage trees, while at the same time protecting perfectly healthy trees from being unnecessarily destroyed.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? I really don’t think there is an issue in Monash that Council doesn’t have an obligation to engage with and try to achieve the best outcome possible. There may be times where a particular issue is cannot be dealt with by Council alone. However, as a Councillor, I would raise this issue loudly and with the highest levels of government possible so to ensure that such a problem is recognised and dealt with.
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Name: Jennifer Jaeger
Suburb of residence: Chadstone
Occupation: Business owner, bookseller.
Ward nominated for: Mt Waverley
How long have you lived in Monash? I was born here - my family have lived in Monash since 1907.
Have you run for council/ been a councillor before, or any other level of government? If so, please list details (where, when, length of time, etc). No
Are you/have you been a member of a political party? If yes, which party? If no, with which political party do you most identify? I am a member of the Liberal Party.
Are you or have you ever been a member of an political interest or lobby group? Association of Motoring Clubs Secretary setting up the Red Plates scheme for Classic Cars. The AOMC was instrumental in this scheme.
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? Yes
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? My budget is under $2000, my campaign is entirely self-funded, I paid my nomination fee.
Where will you be campaigning? The entire ward of Mt Waverley.
Who will you direct your preferences to? You can look up all my preferences on the VEC website but my main preferences are #2 Mitchell Harvey & #3 Tom Morrissey.
Describe your involvement in the local community. I have always been involved in the communities of Oakleigh and Mt Waverley. Currently I am a member of the Oakleigh Historical Society as an archivist and committee member. I am a member of the Oakleigh Pioneer Cemetery committee, through my daughter I am a member of Waverley Basketball Club.
What do you think being a councillor involves? To represent the residents in a sustained way over the four years. To attend meetings, talk to residents and try to resolve any issues they may have. Attend community events. To work with the other councillors to create a better City of Monash.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward? Particularly where I live near the Monash Freeway it would be noise issues and also crime, particularly vandalism and burglary. I think there are many issues which people are concerned with, for example rates and the increases we experience regularly – we want value for money, after all, we want to see our money spent wisely. Heritage and history issues such as the loss of our large trees, over-building in residential areas, even too many cars parked in the streets. A particular bugbear of mine is the yearly hard rubbish collection as there must be a better way to do it? Also key services such as street lighting, community health and aged care could all be improved.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? Getting our $10,000,000 deficit back into the black, I’d like to see some tighter fiscal management within council and less reckless waste, it is always better to not be in debt whether it be a home budget or a council budget.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? I know that people have to live somewhere and Monash is a growing suburb but I do question these huge projects like the one at the Warrigal Rd end of Power Ave. What will the traffic situation will be like there when it’s finished and I wonder who ultimately benefits from developments like that, not the long-term local-residents that’s for sure. So in short I am against huge developments like that and I would not have voted for it.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? I am in favour of it; but I think Heritage trees and trees of height and age should be protected for future generations. However I am not against pruning and keeping trees safe for our residents. I think there must be a balanced rational viewpoint to this issue.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? I would hope that I would have input into any issue in Monash if elected to council. I am not one to sit on my hands and not voice my opinion. I would do my level best to have a say in any issues presented to council and hopefully my vote would count.
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Name: Jieh-Yung Lo
Suburb of residence: Mount Waverley.
Occupation: Policy advisor.
How long have you lived in Monash? Six years.
Have you run for council/ been a councillor before, or any other level of government? Yes. I ran as a candidate for the first time in the 2008 City of Monash council elections. I was privileged to be elected to represent the Mount Waverley Ward from 2008 to 2012.
Are you/have you been a member of a political party? If yes, which party? If no, with which political party do you most identify? Yes. I am a member of the Australian Labor Party
Are you or have you ever been a member of an political interest or lobby group? No.
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? Yes.
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? My campaign is funded entirely from my own personal resources.
Where will you be campaigning? I will be campaigning in the areas of Mount Waverley, Ashwood, Chadstone, Glen Waverley and Burwood.
Who will you direct your preferences to? Please see the Victorian Electoral Commission website (under 2012 City of Monash Council Elections).
Describe your involvement in the local community. Over the four years, I have been actively engaged with my local community and worked tirelessly to improve community services, protecting and maintaining our parks and open space, enhancing community facilities, cutting unnecessary expenses and maintaining the lowest possible level of council rates in metropolitan Melbourne.
Since being elected in 2008, I have been a strong supporter of local community groups such as sporting clubs, neighbourhood houses, multicultural and senior organisations. I am keen to develop a stronger bond between council and community groups through the establishment of effective support channels and working partnerships to enhance greater community development.
What do you think being a councillor involves? To be available, accessible and accountable to residents and ratepayers at all times, and to ensure council funds are spent more sensibly to provide accessible and efficient services and infrastructure.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward?
1. Keeping rates and spending low.
2. Protecting our neighbourhood from overdevelopment.
3. Improving infrastructure and services.
4. Economic growth.
5. Environment and sustainability.
6. Graffiti and maintenance of parks, roads and footpaths.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash?
1. Planning.
2. Population growth.
3. Infrastructure management.
4. Service delivery.
5. Waste management.
6. Financial management.
7. Environment.
8. Transport.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? My experience with over-development projects in the ward alerted me that multi-storey developments will no longer occur in activity centres. One of my key priorities for the next council term is to strengthen council’s local planning policies and strategies to limit height and scale of development.
If elected, I will be pushing for a review of an updated multi-storey development planning strategy that sets out a clearer vision on council expectations on high density development. The existing strategy fails to keep up with this growing trend and adds limited weight when it comes to assessing planning applications of this nature.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? I strongly believe the Vegetation Protection Overlay offers greater protection to our local trees and limiting developers in the removal of healthy trees off their property. While I am keen to retain the VPO as it currently stands, I am interested in exploring mechanisms to supporting our senior residents in the management and maintenance of large and mature trees on their property.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? I believe as councillors, we have an obligation to take up any issue that is affecting our local community, even when it doesn’t fall under council responsibilities. It is important to note that local councils are strong advocates for their communities. If elected, I will take up any issue to ensure it is followed up and pushed forward.