After many years in local government, Cardinia CEO Carol Jeffs is departing the shire after almost seven years.
Having worked from deep in the country to the bustling streets of the inner city, it was fitting that the biggest challenge she has faced so far was the in-between of outer Melbourne.
As she sees out her final hours as CEO today, Gazette journalist Corey Everitt speaks with Ms Jeffs about the highlights, the struggles and the hopeful future of Cardinia.
“It’s so important to get out amongst the community and talk to them and listen to what they have to say,” she said.
“CEOs do what CEOs do, but here, I think it’s a very special community and absolutely critical.”
The day of publication of this edition of the Gazette is the last day for Cardina Shire CEO Carol Jeffs.
She was appointed by councillors in July 2018. Ms Jeffs’ first role in the CEO position after several stints leading varying departments in other municipalities.
This significant promotion was for the shire she called home, it seemed the stars had aligned.
Yet, within her first year as CEO, Cardinia would show why it’s one of the most challenging areas of local government.
In March of 2019, Bunyip State Park was set alight. It would burn down 29 homes and affect about 300 properties overall.
Everyone new at the council received the apparent reminder that almost half of Cardinia is under an extreme level fire risk.
But now, years on, Ms Jeffs emphasises the strength the community displayed.
“I think the headline was Baptism of Fire, which was kind of right,” Ms Jeffs said.
“But what I’m so proud of is the way that we worked with the local community. There were people in lots of challenging situations.
“That took four or five years and is still going, and to be able to stick with them and listen to what was going on for them and help them recover from a big event like that. I’m just super proud of that.”
The unique factors of Cardinia are less disastrous, but are certainly an unending challenge to tackle.
The council must cater for the needs of both an urban area that has more than half the population concentrated within only 20 percent of the shire’s land area, as well as the largely rural residents dispersed across the other 80 percent.
The urban area has an almost insatiable need for infrastructure and services to facilitate its residential, commercial and industrial growth.
The needs of the Shire’s outer regions are many ways the opposite; needing security to protect its vital agriculture, biodiversity and the community spirit of small towns.
Living in the Shire before she became CEO, Ms Jeffs was well aware of the unique character and she knew the council would be equally particular.
“First impressions of Cardinia Shire, the organisation, was that it was really on the cutting edge of local government at that time and still is.
“It’s a really exciting place to work, a lot going on with the growth area, with the farming and rural areas.”
Roads and bins are the bread and butter of councils, and the shire is not short of either. Cardinia possesses enough roads that laying them in a line could get you to Sydney and back, the only catch is that half of it would be unsealed.
But councils are much bigger than that: child and maternal health, weed management, emergency relief, senior programs to public art, these are just a slice of the matters that councils have to handle.
A Chief Executive Officer is the head of the pyramid, but in local government, you are still a public servant.
Councillors have the final authority and the big decisions on infrastructure, services and planning are set before them in council chambers.
But the CEO has to execute councillor decisions while overseeing the vast machinations of the council that are largely unseen.
“If you’ve ever had a baby in Cardinia Shire, you would have been to a maternal and child health nurse, that’s us.
“Your children would have to use school crossings, that’s us.
“Of course, we pick up bins and we’re heavily involved in planning. But, you know, there is compliance for our animal management, for example, such a wide range of things.
“And that makes it a really interesting place to work and also challenging because it’s complex.”
Before Cardinia, Ms Jeffs worked for Latrobe City Council and the City of Port Phillip. She held roles as a general manager for varying departments from community services to finance, which prepared her for the universal CEO position.
Before that, she achieved a Master of Economics and lectured at Monash University. She admits that at this time, she wasn’t aware she would end up spending close to 20 years in local government.
“I think when you work in a regional area, there are only a few large employers. So the role came up for a manager at La Trobe City Council.
“I was living there at the time as well and that got me started in local government. It’s been a wonderful career.”
She is not only leaving Cardinia Shire, but also local government. She has been appointed CEO of Uniting Vic Tas.
Raised in the country, her hometown being Yarram, her travels in local government have almost a poetic semblance, with Cardinia being a just conclusion.
“I did the regional and inner city, and this felt just right in terms of halfway.
“I grew up in the country, so it’s sort of lovely to have that little connection to rural Cardinia, but also have that proximity to Melbourne.
“It really is a great place to live and work.”
The departure is described as “bittersweet” because there are quite a few milestones that Ms Jeffs will likely miss, and also challenges that will now have to be addressed by somebody else.
The state of local government, especially those on the urban fringe, is not quite ideal.
To Ms Jeffs, neither council budgetary matters nor the capacity to delivery core services has been properly addressed by those in higher government.
“The fact is that local government across Australia hasn’t had an increase in the share of taxes from the government since the 70s.
“No one expects people to pay more rates, but we need a bigger proportion of the tax.
“We have the lion’s share of things that happen locally and we get the smallest amount of tax.
“The other thing is, as a growth area, and hopefully I can help to fix this a little in my new role, but the lack of services here is just highly inequitable.
“That ranges from health services, allied health services, all the way through to helping people with personal financial sustainability.
“We’ve been advocating really hard in Canberra and in Spring Street, and with the not-for-profits, to please, please bring more services here because our people here need it.”
Infrastructure Manager Peter Benazic will take the CEO position for an interim period while the council finds the next permanent CEO.
It will be months after Ms Jeffs has left before the new CEO is confirmed. Her advice to them is to always stay in touch with residents.
“There are so many pressures on your time and there’s so much to do and achieve. It’s quite easy to get sort of locked down doing those things.
“It’s so important to get out amongst the community and talk to them and listen to what they have to say.
“CEOs do what CEOs do, but here, I think it’s a very special community and absolutely critical.”
Her new role will be more focused on community services, but far larger in scope. Much the same as taking on Cardinia, it’s a whole new set of experiences.
“The community services and the work that they do and what not-for-profits provide are really close to my heart.
“It’s making a difference in people’s lives and spreading all across Victoria and Tasmania with a growth agenda. So you might see me back around here.”
Ms Jeffs has had plenty of time in her days to thank her fellow councillors and the community, but she is fortunate to be able to be there for one last volunteers’ week in Cardinia.
There, she was able to appreciate the tireless work the community does and to join her colleagues in thanking them.
“Some of the statistics show that Cardinia Shire has the largest number of proportional volunteers in all of the interface councils.
“And the volunteer reception last week was just a really great representation of that.
“Lots of people, passionate people from all ages and demographics.
“Our councillors here, over three council terms that I’ve been here, are always community-focused and got their heart in the right place. And that doesn’t happen everywhere I’ve been.
“I need to thank them as well because they have been a great supporter of me. My mantra is about working together and we have worked together. The council with the community, with our neighbours and our politicians, that’s what’s got us the great results here in Cardinia Shire.”
