Not sure who to vote for in Mulgrave 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.
MULGRAVE WARD
Wheelers Hill and Mulgrave
2008 election results:
Elected: Paul Klisaris 7352, Charlotte Baines 5110 (not recontesting), Micaela Drieberg 2863
Enrolment: 30,586
Formal votes: 23,772
Informal: 850
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Name: Anamika
Suburb of residence: Mulgrave
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Ward nominated for: Mulgrave
How long have you lived in Monash? 6 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
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 campaign and I paid for my nomination fee.
Where will you be campaigning? Mulgrave.
Who will you direct your preferences to? My preferences will go to people who have worked for the community.
Describe your involvement in the local community. Working for empowering women, upliftment of disadvantaged kids.
What do you think being a councillor involves? It involves being a good listener, problem solving and working for the community.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward? Social isolation is the most important issue within the ward.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? Monash is facing mainly social isolation problems currently.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? Multi Stories are liked by most people. Multi storey gives a very urban look to the city and hence accommodates more people within a city.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? I think the council’s vegetation protection is very good.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? Issues like train transport is out of my hands.
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Name: Rima Das
Suburb of residence: The suburb of Glen Waverley which also falls into Mulgrave Ward
Occupation: IT
Ward nominated for: Mulgrave Ward
How long have you lived in Monash? Since arriving in Australia, 21 years ago.
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). I am a first time candidate and I am genuine – not just a runner feeding preferences to others.
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 not an endorsed candidate and will always make decisions for my community based on the merits of the case. 9 of the current 11 councillors are members of the ALP, so Monash needs a better balance of representation because Labor hierarchy require its councillors to vote as a block on council motions.
Are you or have you ever been a member of a political interest or lobby group? I have been involved in a number of community organisations and multicultural groups whose only agenda is to see local progress and promote diversity in Monash and the South-East. Any group where there is a vote, there is politics and most groups have a lobbying or advocacy role. Even the Empowering Women Group sponsored and promoted by the Monash Council has generated several candidates in this council election and are directing preferences to sitting Labor councillors. My interest in local government is purely to see that good decisions are made and positive outcomes delivered to Mulgrave Ward and our city.
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? Yes. I am dedicated to my community and if elected I will work vigorously and proactively over the four year term to improve not only the functioning of council but to deliver real results for our residents and ratepayers.
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? Modest shoe string budget, paid for by me and nomination fee paid for by me.
Where will you be campaigning? Throughout the Mulgrave Ward.
Who will you direct your preferences to? To genuine candidates who support low rates, and good governance and to bring some balance to the Monash council which is currently served by 9 out of 11 councillors who are Labor. I am also supportive of the ratepayers association because I believe council wastes a lot of public funds and does not make an effort to better manage its bureaucracy.
Describe your involvement in the local community. Extensive community involvement including multi-cultural organisations such as the Australia Indian Innovations Inc. as ambassador for the promotion of a harmonious society, as well as education, family and generation of jobs and opportunity. As a long standing Monash resident, I have been actively involved in many benevolent causes and now look to making a positive difference at a local government level.
What do you think being a councillor involves? The role of councillor is clearly specified in the Local Government Act 1989 and requires councillors to make decisions impartially. It also involves understanding local views on issues and acting accordingly in the public interest. When councillors make decisions they need to be based in fact and logic and not party lines. The City of Monash has been lacked political impartiality for a very, very long time. Councillors need to be able to work with all levels of government to achieve its strategic plan which should be the community’s vision for the future. Providing scrutiny on budget and decision making processes and making sure council functions in an open and accountable way is critical to delivering positive outcomes for the people of Mulgrave Ward and the City of Monash. I pledge to be fully accessible to our community, and my work as a multi-cultural ambassador means that I can strongly represent the views of our culturally diverse area.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward? Monash Council has failed to deliver value for the ratepayer dollar in particular on major projects where cost blow-outs and poor planning has resulted in less projects and investment in Mulgrave Ward. If elected I will make sure Mulgrave Ward gets its fair share and focus on delivering good governance and more accountable, transparent decision making which will see a fairer treatment of Mulgrave Ward residents and ratepayers.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? Dealing with increasing cost pressures from Federal taxes and levies means Monash needs to better handle its budget and target wasteful spending. Cost of living is forever rising and young families, seniors and those doing it tough need to feel some relief from the endless rate-rises imposed by this current council. Planning, quality of services for children, families and older persons especially our multi-cultural communities needs renewed focus. Other issues include the need for more accountable, transparent decision making and the need for more balance of representation on Monash and the ongoing mismanagement of planning. We need to build on the strengths of our diverse communities and not just take them for granted. Population growth also means services need to be improved as well as community facilities and infrastructure. Lastly, the densification of our city will put pressure on private and public open space which council needs to deal with more fairly and effectively by better improving its strategies for future generations.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? I will vote for sensible planning policy and against inappropriate high density development. Dealing with population growth needs to be balanced with preservation of local amenity and the enhancement of our suburbs. I do not believe council should be used as a smoke and mirrors forum on planning issues only to be relegated to unhelpful VCAT processes. Our built environment needs to be sensitively managed for the benefit of all in Mulgrave Ward. The upcoming planning reforms proposed by the State Government is an opportunity for council to better plan for our city taking into consideration scale, density, parking as well as private and public open space.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? The already complex planning system tends to be a significant burden on the average ratepayer and if elected, I will work to make sure that the VPO is fairer and provides better balance. I support enhancement of private and public open space however consideration of the impacts on residents needs to be given sufficient weight.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? Without more balance on council, decisions that need to be made for the benefit of residents and ratepayers get cast aside which means our local area loses out. Local government has a broader role in advocating for its community and working with other levels of government to ensure that funding and opportunities are secured. The current Monash Council has focussed too much on trying re-engineer society rather than delivering on its core services. Council’s will always be under pressure from other levels of government as well as market forces however, with a greater balance we will see better decision making and better outcomes for this wonderful part of Melbourne!
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Name: Micaela Drieberg
Suburb of residence: Oakleigh
Occupation: Research Fellow & Health Planning Consultant
Ward nominated for: Mulgrave
How long have you lived in Monash? 9 years. Prior to that I was just over our city borders in Rowville and Dandenong.
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). Yes I am a current councillor Mulgrave Ward.
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 – ALP. I believe in and identify with the social values of ALP.
Are you or have you ever been a member of an political interest or lobby group? No but I have certainly been involved with many advocacy campaigns as a member of the Public Health Association of Australian, International Association for Public Participation, Planning Institute Australia and UN Women.
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? Absolutely. I intend to remain active and available throughout my term, just I have done so this term.
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? Whilst I have had amazing support from family and friends, I paid for my own nomination and have funded my own campaign.
Where will you be campaigning? Throughout my ward – Mulgrave, Wheelers Hill and southern parts of Glen Waverley
Who will you direct your preferences to? To the candidates that I would like to see represent the community in the event I am not selected.
Describe your involvement in the local community. Throughout my career I have been committed to positively contributing towards community health and wellbeing. In addition to my paid work within the health sector I’ve been an active and approachable Councillor over the last 4 years.
I currently sit on committees of management for the Mulgrave Neighbourhood House and Monash Gallery of Art and was also the Number 1 ticket holder for Mulgrave Football Club in 2012. In addition I am also an active member of Council committees including the Disability Consultative Committee and Public Health Committee. I’ve also worked closely with local action groups attended all our council run events and can often be seen walking my dogs around Monash and chatting with neighbours.
What do you think being a councillor involves? The role is 2 fold – primarily representing our community’s interests but also providing governance to the council as an organisation.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward? The biggest issues I’ve been involved with is the powerlines issues in the Waverley Park Estate and making sure that Mirvac abide by the current planning permit to underground the powerlines. Flooding continues to be an issue in parts of Wheelers Hill as is how vacant land is developed. Overall, Mulgrave Ward has tended to be neglected in the past in favour of other parts of Monash. During my term I’ve started to address this and we’ve seen some great results like the new library outlet in Mulgrave. There’s more work to be done though which is why I have re-nominated for council.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? Balancing competing interests, needs and wants across the municipality – in particular the varying views when it comes to how our city grows. Maintaining neighbourhood character whilst still providing varied and affordable housing is a challenge as is maintaining our infrastructure.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? When proposed in areas located to good infrastructure and public transport I am definitely in favour of more housing options in Monash to accommodate our growing population.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? You may recall I was Acting Mayor when this came to Council and cast the deciding vote in favour of no change. I believe a balance needs to be struck with the VPO that allows residents more flexibility with their local vegetation but also maintains our treescape for future generations.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? I believe Monash Councillors have a role to play in all issues. If it does not fall directly under our government’s area of responsibility we can still certainly still advocate for good outcomes.
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Name: Robert Davies
Suburb of residence: Glen Waverley (near Jells Park)
Occupation: Stockbroker
Ward nominated for: Mulgrave
How long have you lived in Monash? I have lived in Monash for over five years. Prior to Monash, I lived in both Glen Eira and Stonnington Council areas. My family has lived in Melbourne since 1943 when my grandfather moved here from Sydney to work as a Professor at the University of Melbourne.
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). I have not previously been involved in Government or run for any council seat. I have over 20 years of experience in business leadership roles in accounting, finance, and general management. I have worked the last seven years as a stockbroker, advising clients on their investments and investment strategies. As a stockbroker, I am a financial fiduciary to my clients. I take this responsibility very seriously and I will hold myself to the same high standard if I am elected by residents to represent them on Monash City Council.
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 do not think council is a place for political party games. Council is there to achieve results for residents and ratepayers. If elected I will work hard to improve services and keep Council focused on commercial outcomes. I joined the Liberal Party two years ago and am currently a member active in the Wheelers Hill branch. However, I am running as an independent candidate and I have my own political views. I have not been affiliated with any other political party prior to joining the Liberal Party.
Are you or have you ever been a member of an political interest or lobby group? I have never been a member of a political interest or lobby group other than mentioned above regarding the Liberal Party.
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? If I am successful with my candidacy, I am fully committed to serving a full term as councillor.
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? My budget is less than $5,000. I am funding my own campaign and I have paid my own nomination fee. I do not have any hidden agenda’s or commitments to groups or people that will influence my decisions on Council. I am an Independent candidate and I will make decisions on Council which are in the best interests of residents, business operators and ratepayers from the Mulgrave Ward. The Monash Ratepayers Inc. has endorsed my candidacy. The only commitment I have made to this organisation is that if I am elected I will work in the interests of ratepayers, business owners, and residents to make a better, more accountable city council.
Where will you be campaigning? I will be campaigning throughout all of the Mulgrave Ward. You can also see more about me and my campaign on my facebook page “RobertDavies_4MonashCC”.
Who will you direct your preferences to? My second preference will go to Rima Das. Rima is an exceptional young lady who will bring intelligence, commitment, and diversity of opinion to council. She is active in the local community and will provide an excellent balance to my financial and commercial background if we are both elected. My third preference will go to Chan Cheah from Monash Ratepayers Inc. (http://vote4chan.wordpress.com). Chan has a very impressive resume, shared values, and would be a great asset on Council. Anton Vucic and Des Olin, both active in their respective communities, will get my fourth and fifth preferences.
Describe your involvement in the local community. I have been active and involved with local sports teams in various capacities for both my son and daughter in cricket, football, and soccer. I live locally near Jells Park, I use local facilities, shop locally, my children attend school and also work locally. As a stockbroker, I worked in the Mt Waverley area for two years. I now work in Melbourne.
What do you think being a councillor involves? I believe Councillors play a very important community leadership role and influence what happens locally. Councillors should get involved in
• Setting Council business plans and budgets. Ensuring budgets are adhered to
• Deciding on Council policies for the local area
• Ensuring Council resources are used for the benefit of everyone in the community
• Communicating with local residents about their views and about Council’s plans
• Working with other government agencies to resolve community issues.
• Attending and participating in Council meetings
• Reading reports, including financial and social research reports.
• Presenting viewpoints and discussing alternatives with other Councillors.
• Public speaking at community events.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward? Mulgrave ward residents are tired of the incredibly wasteful spending from Council. Firstly we had a privacy screen at the Clayton Pool that cost over $60,000 and is used for 1 ½ hours every fortnight. Then there is the $8.7m spent on the Euneva road carpark. This is a colossal failure by Council who have built a 350 space carpark which is now occupied less than 10% of the time for 3 hour parking. Mulgrave Ward Commuters have to park all over the Glen Waverley suburbs while this carpark sits almost idle. It appears that Glen Waverley ward councillors are limiting commuter access to this facility in a self-serving attempt to monopolise carparking for the benefit of local traders. How much better could community services be if some of this $8.7m was not spent on idle car-parking facilities, and had been spent on our community?
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? Council Rates have been increasing over the inflation rate for many years. They are forecast in the budget to increase by 22% over the next three years. Clearly, Council has lost all credibility to control costs. Yet, the council has $10m of debt and no foreseeable plans to repay the loan. Furthermore, we face potential multi-million dollar risks related to carbon costs, unfunded superannuation, and other infrastructure needs. In this environment, I believe the potential for significant future rate rises is the most important issue facing Monash residents and ratepayers.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? For residential zones, I would like to see us retain the existing character of our city. Residential development should be appropriate to the surrounding buildings with growth occurring in corridors, near major roads, and in the fringe areas. I am positive towards retail and commercial zone development because I believe our city must grow and that as our population increases we need more and more services. We all lose if we inhibit retail and commercial development because we cannot access services and there are fewer jobs for residents. However, even retail and commercial spaces need to be developed appropriately.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? My approach to government is that less government is better government when people are able to decide what is best for themselves, provided it doesn’t impact others in the community. However, some level of regulation is needed in most areas to ensure community expectations are maintained to a proper standard. In relation to the Vegetation Protection Overlay, I feel a high standard should be set for Public property areas. The community expects this and I support it. However, when it comes to private, residential, single dwelling property, the key decision maker should be the resident not the regulator. What regulators should be focusing on is improving and expanding our public green areas.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? All decisions on council are made by majority consensus, so there is not one person that can control or obstruct council decision making. Councillors and Council staff must be able to present well articulated, logical arguments, supported by facts in order to convince the other council members that a course of action is beneficial. I am prepared to listen to all points of view, consider the facts and take residents views into consideration when making decisions. I am also prepared to robustly and persuasively argue for sound, logical, financially viable policies that benefit residents, ratepayers, and business operators.
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Name: John Maddaluno
Suburb of residence: Notting Hill
Occupation: Sales Consultant
Ward nominated for: Mulgrave
How long have you lived in Monash? 25 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). Yes. 2008 Monash Council elections.
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. Australian Labor Party.
Are you or have you ever been a member of an political interest or lobby group? Australian Labor Party.
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 have personally funding my campaign.
Where will you be campaigning? Mulgrave and Wheelers Hill.
Who will you direct your preferences to? Please refer to the VEC website for my preferences.
Describe your involvement in the local community. I have lived, studied and worked in Monash for over 25 years.
What do you think being a councillor involves? Working hard, listening to the local residents, and keep true to your commitments.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward?
• double the hard rubbish collection to twice a year
• curb anti-social behaviour, such as hoon driving, by liaising with local police
• preserve and enhance our open spaces
• increase maintenance for tree pruning, street lighting and footpaths
• listen to the views of residents when considering important planning issues such as the Waverley Park development
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? Making our community cleaner and safer.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? Developments should be in character with the local neighbourhood and street. This will ensure our streets are not full of cars and unsafe for children.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? Residents should not be restricted on what they can and can’t do on their properties. The safety of residents must come first. Trees should not be in an unsuitable area.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? Public transport.
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Name: John Sharkey
Suburb of residence: Hughesdale
Occupation: Small business owner
Ward nominated for: Mulgrave
How long have you lived in Monash? 15 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). Yes, I ran for council in 2008.
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, Labour
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? Absolutely, yes.
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? I have a limited campaign budget, and I paid for my nomination fee.
Where will you be campaigning? In Wheelers Hill, Mulgrave & Glen Waverly.
Who will you direct your preferences to? To those candidates that share the same values as me.
Describe your involvement in the local community. I assist students at a local primary school with neuro linguistic programming (NLP) spelling strategies where I volunteer my time on a weekly basis. I also assist at our local kinder garden.
What do you think being a councillor involves? Being an active, hard working representative for the community.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward?
* Childcare & kinder garden places.
* Cost of living pressures.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? Monash has an ever-increasing aging population and delivering essential services to meet their needs will be the challenge.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? I support developments that enhance our suburbs liveability, what I don’t support is multistorey high rising boxes in our suburbs.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? I’m supportive of the VPO however, it does require refinement that will give the householders a bigger say on the trees that lay within the boundaries of their homes.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? The ‘buck’ stops with the councillors and no issue is ‘out of our hands’.
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Name: Anton Vucic
Suburb of residence: Glen Waverley
Occupation: Chartered Accountant
Ward nominated for: Mulgrave (City of Monash)
How long have you lived in Monash? Since 1970
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 an active member of the Liberal Party.
Are you or have you ever been a member of an political interest or lobby group? I am a member of CANdo and the Institute of Public Affairs.
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? Yes, most definitely.
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? No campaign budget has been set, but all costs and the nomination fee are being paid by wife and I, only.
Where will you be campaigning? Throughout the Mulgrave Ward.
Who will you direct your preferences to? Robert Davies (Independent) and other candidates endorsed by the Monash Ratepayers Inc.
Describe your involvement in the local community. Board Member since 1991 of a local charity (based in Mulgrave) helping intellectually-disabled adults (WATCH Inc); Board Member (1999-2002) of AWARE Regional Skills Project Inc.
What do you think being a councillor involves? Full understanding of Council’s operations and finances, and knowledge of all services provided to residents and visitors to the City of Monash. Attendance at all Council Meetings; attending community events; liaising with community groups and residents; being fully accessible to meet with residents to discuss their specific concerns.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward? Minimising rate increases; ensuring quality services are maintained for residents who rely on Council’s many services; local planning and ensuring that the character of neighbourhoods is maintained; continual maintenance and upgrading of Council facilities for their safe use by residents.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? Planning and the increasing prevalence of multi-storey developments: residents’ concerns need to be heard and strongly advocated. The budgeted Rate increases are far in excess of the C.P.I., which places a massive burden upon family and individual budgets.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? Whilst applications need to be considered on a case-by-case basis, I want to ensure that the character of neighbourhoods is maintained. The views of residents will always form a major element in my decision-making process. I am a proud Monash resident and I want to ensure that our City maintains a balance of sensible development, compliance with the Planning Scheme and is in keeping with neighbourhood architecture and style.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? I support it as long as the trees are healthy and add to the streetscape of the neighbourhood.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? VCAT over-turning Council decisions.
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Name: John Janetzki
Suburb of residence: Mulgrave
Occupation: IT Manager
Ward nominated for: Mulgrave
How long have you lived in Monash? I was raised in the city and purchased my first home here (where I currently reside). All up I have lived in Monash for close to 30 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). I contested the 2007 state election for the lower house district of Mulgrave.
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’m a current member of the Australian Greens and have noted this in the name of transparency on my candidate statement on the ballot paper. Although most will not, I believe all council candidates should declare their political affiliations on the ballot paper so that voters know who they are voting for.
Are you or have you ever been a member of an political interest or lobby group? No other group
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? Yes - absolutely.
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? My campaign budget is a grand total of $250 - the nomination fee. I have paid for this myself.
Where will you be campaigning? I will be most active around Mulgrave and Wheelers Hill.
Who will you direct your preferences to? I do not believe in preference deals and if I was to direct preferences to anyone it would be entirely on the basis of who I thought was a good candidate. However, as I am not familiar with many of the 14 other candidates, I have decided to run an open ticket. This means I have not given preferences to any other candidate and there will be no preferences listed on my section of the ballot paper. It’s entirely up to the voter!
Describe your involvement in the local community. N/A
What do you think being a councillor involves? A councillor acts as an elected representative for their entire ward. It is up to the councillors to debate, and set the direction of council on behalf of all ratepayers and residents, for the betterment of all who live in the City of Monash. A councillor needs to be fair and honest in all dealings, and to represent their community to the best of their ability.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward? I feel that Mulgrave is often neglected in Council investment budgets and there is a general lack of focus on the ward.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? I believe planning issues such as lack of amenities have caused traffic congestion and other related problems. Appropriate development is critical in maintaining a liveable city. I also believe that Monash rates are rising too much without a comparable increase in services.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? I feel that in some cases, multi-storey developments may be appropriate if they fit within the character of the area, but even in that case appropriate amenities, such as roads, off street parking, open spaces, cycling infrastructure, access to schools and public transport needs to be taken into greater consideration when increasing the population of any area.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? The VPO covers only a small portion of the ward I am contesting, near the parks and creek. I feel that appropriate vegetation is important in the area for both maintaining the character of the area, and providing habitat for native birds. I am however very open to the idea of working with the community within the VPO to establish a better system for maintaining the wonderful green feel of Mulgrave but also gives residents the freedom to maintain their own gardens.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? There are many issues that Council does not have authority over - specifically with regards to planning. However I feel it is not right to say that they are completely out of one’s hands. Council has significant lobbying power and does have the ability to work with the community and State Government to create a planning overlay which can be ratified by the State Government in order to ensure residents and ratepayers have a say in how Monash will grow as a city.
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Name: Dr Chan Cheah
Suburb of residence: Notting Hill.
Occupation: Management & Innovation Consultant.
How long have you lived in Monash? Over 25 years.
Have you run for council/ been a councillor before, or any other level of government? No. However, I have worked in several government departments at both state and federal levels in professional capacities.
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. It is the quality of leadership that determines which political party I identify with most. Presently there is none.
Are you or have you ever been a member of an political interest or lobby group? I had political interests when I was younger and had networked among and been mentored by state, federal and overseas senior politicians and advisory officers. Today, I prefer grassroots advocacy because real people can benefit more. I am involved in several grassroots advocacy groups (which are mentioned in a later question). My ratepayers advocacy work is aligned to the Victorian Women Trust’s “Switch in Time” call to action, which includes respecting and defending democratic principles - in local government and from ratepayers’ perspective, this translates to resolving community disaffection issues in elected leaders and council processes.
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? Yes, unless unexpected health and family issues surface. To be honestly frank, this risk, although unlikely, can happen to any councillor.
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? My financial management philosophy is spending least money for most value. My budget is under $1000 (including nomination fees) and is self-funded. I used smart procurement techniques to maximise economy of scale spends.
I understand some candidates spent over $10,000 to under $20,000. I have no aspirations to use Local Government as a training ground to develop a political career pathway.
Simple, honest and “can do” information distribution speaks aloud of my integrity to truly represent the community and get their concerns and issues addressed in the new council – that is the imperative for deserving their votes.
Where will you be campaigning? Campaign delivery integrates marketing and “brick & click” techniques such as:
• Social media channels: my website http://vote4chan.wordpress.com/ and other requested publications online eg like this survey.
• Viral marketing to pass the word around via online means, door knocking and speaking to residents, business operators and community groups.
• Leveraging Monash Ratepayers Inc’s media articles and releases.
• Flyer distributions to residents and businesses.
Who will you direct your preferences to? Preference one is Desmond Olin – another independent candidate and the president of Monash Ratepayers Inc. Des is a true community man. He is concerned that council has lost touch with its community and party politics are influencing council’s work culture. Check him out in his social media channel http://vote4desolin.wordpress.com/.
Selecting other candidates to direct the other preferences was challenging, requiring my campaign team to closely research and evaluate candidates’ track performance and skills to select the right people for the community. We decided Robert Davies to direct my second preference. Check him out at http://www.facebook.com/RobertDavies4MulgraveWard
Describe your involvement in the local community. Over 10 years in local community work -
• Helped Brandon Park and Notting Hill resident groups against inappropriate development (2002-2009).
• Developed the Chinese Australian community’s (via CCCAV) advocacy vision and strategies. I had also ensured successful delivery of its national conference this year.
• Had innovated some corporate social responsibility products for social enterprises.
• Contributing to community oversee of consumer centred health reforms & prototyping some cancer supportive care tools.
• Supporting a small group of parent-advocates to develop a business plan for building Steiner community centres/solutions for supporting people with disabled children.
What do you think being a councillor involves? Councillors are like the board of directors, responsible and accountable for governing council’s directions and operations to deliver in efficacious manners, lasting services and other outcomes that benefit the local community. I will also work closely with council officers to ensure effective community engagement and inputs into service delivery and other matters that affect them. As an independent candidate, I believe community comes first as beneficiaries of councillors’ contributions and decisions.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward? Being involved in Monash Ratepayers Incorporated, I am very aware of community concerns and issues. My priority contributions are to make rates affordable for all, improve service management and customer service, ensure planning surety for all, increase responsible financial, asset/resource, liability & risk management. These priorities will blanket-cover specific issues like improving open space facilities as Monash is in the bottom 10% of councils with access to open space. Many closed school sites, such as the one in Brandon Park, are potential open space solutions. See http://vote4chan.wordpress.com/ for details, including overview tentative action plans.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? The ward issues also apply for whole of Monash. Additionally, I will ensure that council will achieve internal efficiency, corporate governance and service management improvements comparable and traceable to industry best practice standards. When these improvements are realised, the community will then see many real service benefits and quality service experiences come their way. Two more issues are management priorities are to improve performance accountability and reporting; and fraud management – the Auditor General Office already recommended these improvements in their recent Local Government audit reports.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? I will not support inappropriate development. The current Monash planning scheme is still based on the old defunct Melbourne 2030 standards – it is not strongly aligned to the proposed new State Planning Policies.
Other councils have taken a proactive approach by adopting the proposed State Planning Policies now instead of waiting another 12++ months for formal approval to come through.
I will ensure that the new council will also embrace this proactive practice asap and enable effective community engagement and inputs into planning their neighbourhood development criteria, where necessary includes amending the Monash Planning Scheme.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? I will support vegetation protection overlay (VPO) with common sense application. Via past referendum, the people wanted a sensible approach to VPO. A practical and balanced approach is to have quality guidelines that foster mindful and appropriate application of VPO, and include a pragmatic and committed penalty and compensation system to defer people from unnecessarily removing vegetation.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? When external risks eventuate, they become issues. Political, economic, social, technology, legislative, environmental and homeland security drivers can create risks and cause issues. Council, including all councillors, cannot control these risk drivers. Examples: carbon tax, state levy, government changes, global economic crisis, suburbia-firestorms, racial riots, organised crime, interest rate movements, etc.
However, my role is to ensure the minimum impact of such risks and their consequential issues on the community. This will require developing or improving risk management competency in Council. Risk management includes evaluating risk severity and likelihood, planning and effectively actioning risk prevention, containment and recovery procedures.
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Name: Paul Klisaris
Suburb of residence: (No response).
Occupation: CEO
How long have you lived in Monash? (No response)
Have you run for council/ been a councillor before, or any other level of government? Have been a councillor since 2000.
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? A member of the Labor Party.
Are you or have you ever been a member of a political interest or lobby group? Yes. As a councillor I have chaired the anti-gambling task force which has tackled state government on its hunger for gaming revenue.
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. My campaign budget is small and I paid for my own nomination fee.
Where will you be campaigning? Mulgrave, Wheelers Hill and Glen Waverley.
Who will you direct your preferences to? Micaela Drieberg, and all the candidates who share the same passion for our ward as I do.
Describe your involvement in the local community. I have been involved in the local community as a councillor for the past 12 years with two years as the mayor of our city. In this journey I have had the privilege of working with so many amazing individuals and groups and together we have been able to achieve so much. In partnership with the community I have been able to deliver a multimillion dollar community centre in Mulgrave, and what will be the ward's most important piece of community infrastructure - a new library.
What do you think being a councillor involves? The role of a councillor is ‘to push the will of the people onto council.’
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward? The community of the Mulgrave Ward have told me that:
• Transport links are very important.
• A Library in Mulgrave.
• More kinder funded places.
• Support for our seniors from the rising costs of living.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? Monash is a great place to live in, raise a family and seek employment. Our city is blessed with many diverse clean industries such as Monash University, Monash Hospital, and a plethora of business districts which provide job opportunities for many. Everyday, thousands of people come into Monash for work, studies and shopping. What this does is place immense pressure on our city’s infrastructure.
Also our city is experiencing a baby boom, while at the same time our current population is aging. Monash’s task will be to ensure it is well placed to meet the demands that both groups bring with them. And I believe we are.
For many cost of living pressures is a concern. That is why future Monash councils must insure they continue to keep any rate increases to a minimum so as to ensure that Monash remains the lowest rating Council in Victoria.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? I will always continue to stand up to scrupulous developers. The difficulty for council is that VCAT doesn’t always support our recommendations and our community.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? The VPO has served Monash well however, I believe it can be improved so as to make it easier for residents who have a dangerous tree on their property to remove it.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? Local government can not control what state and federal governments legislate. Cost shifting down to local government is a real problem.
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Name: Des Olin
Suburb of residence: Wheelers Hill.
Occupation: Part time Watch Disability Services.
How long have you lived in Monash? I have lived in Monash for 40 years.
Have you run for council/ been a councillor before, or any other level of government? I have been a Waverley councillor first elected in February 1980 till 1994.
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 joined the Victorian Liberal Party in 1990 to contest an upper house seat in Waverley in 1990. I was never endorsed so I never continued with my membership.
Are you or have you ever been a member of an political interest or lobby group? Currently president of Monash Ratepayers Incorporation, vice-president of Ratepayers Victoria and a member of the Brandon Park Action Group.
If you are elected, will you commit to remaining a councillor for the whole term? If elected, it will be a pleasure to commit as a councillor for the whole term.
What is your campaign budget? Who is funding your campaign? Who paid for your nomination fee? My budget is under $1000 and this includes nomination fees. It is my own financial contribution from my savings.
Where will you be campaigning? Door-to-door canvassing for votes.
Who will you direct your preferences to? I will direct my preferences to Dr Chan Cheah who is also an independent. She is also very concerned where the council going. The council has lost its direction and long-term goals.
Describe your involvement in the local community. For the last forty years:
* Member of the Mulgrave Jaycees.
* Wheelers Hill men’s and Combine Probus club.
* Wheelers Hill Rotary Club.
* Mulgrave Country Club Bowling Club.
* Lum Reserve Tennis Club.
* Coach of the Under-9 Brentwood Football Club.
* Member of the Brandon Park Action Group,
* President of the Monash Ratepayers.
* Vice-president of the Ratepayers Victoria.
What do you think being a councillor involves? As a past councillor for the City of Waverley, leadership is the major contributing factor, accountability, transparency in debating and making the right decisions and being pro-active in the community.
What do you think are the most important issues for your ward? As president of the Monash Ratepayers, the issue affecting Mulgrave Ward is the high number of retirees who are now being confronted with high council rates. The rates are rising faster than their annual financial income. Monash council just recently authorised 6% compounding each year till the year 2016 that is equivalent to 30%.
What do you think are the most important issues facing Monash? Monash council lacks local planning infrastructure, performance accountability, and fraud performance. The council should have transparency in decision making, and council committee meetings should be open to the public. Councillor’s lack of knowledge and immaturity has limited debate on issues which causes journalist and the public to walk away from council chambers bewilder and confused.
Monash has had a series of multi-storey developments both passed and rejected recently. What’s your position on this? Multi-storey development which is considered inappropriate is still subjective to interpretations of Monash Council and VCAT decisions. Community needs more consulting with council so that the public is being more involved and assured that this development is the right criteria for the neighbourhood.
What’s your position on the council’s vegetation protection overlay? I support vegetation protection overlay and a penalty system should defer people from unnecessarily removal of vegetation.
What issue in Monash do you think is out of your hands if you get elected? I am a great believer of open committee meetings; this gives the councillors accountability in giving the public view of debate, items like swimming pool curtains can be debated before being thrown to the public without consultation. It is now become a political council, it is not on a level playing field every item is censored and the public is worse off. The administration is too large, 62% of the administration cake, is borne by the public purse. We need to curtail this high spiralling costs and it needs curtaining so that the public will not suffer.
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