Certificates of Appreciation

John Read

John first joined local government in 1971 at the , and subsequently advanced to Assistant Shire Clerk with the Shires of Nungarin and Carnamah.

Following five years of service at the City of as a Senior Officer, he was appointed Shire Clerk of the Shire of east in 1979 at the age of 28. In this role, John led a successful negotiation with BHP and the implementation of the 1981 of the ‘normalisation’ of the town of Newman, changing the town from a closed company town to and open public town.

In 1987, John departed the sector to establish his business, offering management consulting servicing the mining and petroleum industry. In 2010, he returned to local government, initially undertaking relief CEO roles, at Shire of Meekatharra, , and the . In, 2012, John accepted the CEO role at the , where he remains today.

Andres Gertenbach

Beginning his career at Bunnings as an Accountant, Andres came into local government in 1992 where he began as the Assistant Shire Clerk at the .

In 1994, he became the Shire Clerk / CEO at the , and in 1997 took the job as CEO at the Shire of Kondinin, before heading to the to begin the role of Senior Manager of Administration and Finances,

After a long stint in the metropolitan area, as the Executive Manager Corporate Services at the Town of Mosman Park, Andres returned to the country, and is now, the Manager Corporate Services at the ,

Since joining, Andres has been an active member of LGMA Branches and their Executive Committees in the Mid-West, Central Wheatbelt (where he was President from 2000-2002), the Avon Branch (where he was President from 2006 -2007) as well as the Metropolitan and North West Branches.

An LGMA member for 23 years, Andres became a Fellow of the Association in 2013.

Tony Knottle

Tony has served for 15 years in local government and is currently in his 6 th year as the CEO of the . He was first appointed as a Chief Executive Officer at the at a very young ages. He subsequently took on CEO roles at in 2003, and then the in 2009, following stints as the Deputy at the , and time at the .

In his most recent role at Dandaragan, Tony is responsible for a number of accomplishments, including the implementation of the $12.5 Jurien Bay Supertowns Projects, and the completion of the Jurien Bay Jetty and Foreshore Project.

Tony is a committed member of LGMA, he has served as Branch President of the Coastal Midlands Branch for 2011 to 2013, and has been an inaugural mentor in LGMAs new Lift Off Mentoring Program.

A committed local, Tony is highly regard by his community, his councillors and his staff for his strong work ethic, dedication to his job, and his untiring representation of his community.

Stephanie, O’Meagher

Stephanie’s first position in local government was for a three year period commencing in 1970 with the Shire of Kalamunda.

On returning to from Victoria in 1997, she signed up with LO-GO appointments undertaking temporary postings into local governments across the state. In only three years, she worked at an astonishing 18 different local governments, mostly in finance and rate roles as well as computer and IT positions, across the North West, South West, Murchison and the Godlfields.

Eventually, she settled in to permanent positions at the , and then at the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale where she stayed for 7 years, and then finally for a further 4 years at the Shire of Kalamunda.

Stephanie has always demonstrated professionalism and has been prepared to take on assignments no matter how distant or remote the local government, bringing much needed financial skills and expertise to these local governments.

Now partially retired, Stephanie is still using her talents to support remote local governments.

Hendrik Boshoff

Currently, the Manager Information Services at the , Hendrik is a devoted LGMA member, and heavily involved in the work of the South West Branch and the LGMA IT Network. As South West Branch Deputy President, Hendrik has helped to develop the programs for the South West Mentors and Aspiring Leaders Conference held in Busselton and Margaret River.

In his time in local government Hendrik has worked as a Business Systems Analyst at the City of Kalgoorlie Boulder, and as Business Analyst, Major Projects Officer, and IT Co-ordinator at the City of Busselton.

Passionate about local government and the career and leadership development and young officers, Hendrik never hesitates to get involved, or to do the heavy lifting that happens behind the scenes.

Jenni Law

Everybody in local government knows Jenni Law.

Once a local government Chief Executive Officer, she defected to State Government, joining the Department of Local Government.

The face of the Department’s capacity building and governance efforts as the Director of Local Government and Regulatory Support, Jenni can be found in the thick of the action, wherever it may be, and in local government it can be almost anywhere.

In just the last few years, she has been engaged in helping to resolve issues at the Shires of York, Ashburton, Port Hedland, to name just a few.

Jenni brings her strong operational understanding and long experience in the local government sector, to these problems, and her efforts have been a significant support for many of our members.

Jenni’s passion for improving the performance of local governments has seen her implement the role out of the Department’s Best Practice Pilot program, as well as her ongoing support of the CEO Support Program, designed to pair new local government CEO’s with an experienced mentor and to support their transition.

Highly regarded by all who know her and work with, Jenni’s commitment to the sector and to the support of officers, makes her a very deserving award recipient

John Atwood

Many of our award recipients have journeyed around Western Australia, serving many communities and local governments, over a long and varied career. This is common experience within our membership.

John’s career is remarkable for being quite the opposite, having spent nearly the entirety of his local government career, 45 years in one local government – the Shire of Donnybrook- Balingup.

Becoming the Shire Clerk in 1989, and Chief Executive in in 1996 – he was been the CEO for an extraordinary 29 years, until his recent retirement early this year.

A truly dedicated leader John has given his heart and soul to the Shire and the community of Donnybrook-Balingup. Over the course of his career, John has been a fierce advocacte for the development of land and infrastructure within the South West,a nd was the key driver in delivering many projects targeted to support community and develop the Shire, including the developemtn of the Donnybrook Business District, the Donnybrook Recreation, and the redevelopment of the railway station into a tourism centre, to name just a few.

Emerging Leader

This award recognises an emerging leader in local government A person who has demonstrated dedication to their work: • the respect of their colleagues, • a commitment to further training and education to pursue their career, • a willingness to go the extra mile and take on new challenges, • and most of all is beginning to realise their leadership potential.

Sheree Edmondson

Sheree has worked in local government for ten years, where she has made a significant impact at the , and where she is widely recognised for her leadership skills and commitment to excellence.

Initially engaged as a Policy Officer, Sheree advanced to Co-ordinator Policy and Research, and now Manager, Asset Management, she is respected by staff, management, elected members for her leadership capabilities and loyalty to the organisation.

In this time she has achieved much, including the development of the City Beach Management Program, which was recognised at the Liveable Cities Awards in Korea, and management and leadership of the City’s plan development through the Integrated Planning and Reporting Framework.

Her involvement with LGMA, has seen her take on the President role, of our Integrated Planners Network, which she has taken to great heights.

Sheree has been the driving force in the development of the networks events and professional development days, which are

A committed and dedicated integrated planner, it is no surprise that the Network has quickly started to integrate with other LGMA Network’s including running joint workshops with the Community Development Network, looking at Strategic Community Plans, and working with the Finance Professionals Network.

Sheree has led committee members in the development of LGMA position and submission to the State Government’s review of the IPR Framework, and has worked to help simply the guidelines.

An extremely knowledgeable leader, Sheree also provides other LGMA members and local governments with advice on how to implement the IPR framework, and supports them in developing effective strategies that meets their needs.

A very worthy winner, and a promising and emerging leader.

Branch of the Year

• Wheatbelt South Branch

The Branch of the year award recognises the Branch that has demonstrated the greatest commitment to supporting members.

The Branch and its members have displayed incredible passion, interest and commitment despite being spread over a large country area.

Recognising the importance of coming together as a region, the Wheatbelt South Branch has been rebuilding and re-energising this year. Beginning, by getting members together regularly, to ensure that there was ongoing collegiate support, and a venue for officers to find support, and to work through challenges.

The Branch is sharing what is happening in their areas, discussing the major challenges, and seeing what they can do to work together, resource share, and find solutions to problems in common.

The branch has reconnected officers and is once again building a strong foundation to support officers in the wheatbelt.

Their success, is now even receiving media interest, with a local journalist turning up to their last meeting held in Narrogin this October, to cover the story for local paper.

Network of the Year

The Network of the Year award recognises the network that has achieved the most for LGMA members work in their professional area.

This is the only the second year we have a category for Network of the Year. As our Professional Networks continue to grow, we now have 8 very active networks, and they become an even larger part of the work that we do, it is appropriate that we recognise the wonderful work that they do for our members.

• Community Development Network

The Community Development Network, known as the CDN, began this year, by complaining bitterly about not having won the Network of the Year award the previous year.

This took some getting over, but finally they regrouped, and redoubled their efforts for 2016.

The CDN is easily LGMA’s largest network, with members all over the State, and each year they run a series of high quality and engaging professional development and networking events, known as the Regional Spotlight Series, commonly attended by as many as 100 delegates.

This year their events focused on Collective Impact and Community Strategic Planning.

The Network also has an active online presence, through the Community Development Linkedin site, which he has grown to have over 900 members.

The CDN also runs a biannual Conference for community development practitioners in local government, and this year’s Conference held in September, called Activate WA, was an extraordinary success.

The Network Committee plans the event and builds the program working with the LGMA Office. And although these professional development and networking events are a fantastic support for Community Development officers and LGMA members, the Network has far exceeded these achievement, extending their influence even beyond the local government sector.

The CDN Committee has worked with the University of Notre Dame to develop a special Diploma of Community Development, tailored for local government community development professionals. Now launched, this program officer specialised training for cd professionals, and will a great help in building the knowledge and capacity of CD officers in our sector.

The Networks involvement and representation on the State Governments Community Development Roundtable ha also influenced recent decisions by the Government to fund Youth Development and Community Development workshops for local government officers.

The CDN is our most active Network. It have grown every year. It is the model that LGMA tries to replicate with each of its other networks, its reach, its engagement, its participation, and its influence.

This year has been another outstanding year for CDN, and the Network is very deserving of receiving our second Network of the Year award.

Meritorious Awards The LGMA meritorious award is awarded to a person or in this case persons who have made an outstanding contribution and commitment to Local Government and the LGMA.

Russell Fishwick

Russell is the Executive Manager Governance at the and has been a servant of local government for some 38 years.

Starting as an Administration Officer at the in 1978, he rose to became the Department Manager in 1986, and then moved on to the City of Joondalup in 1994 becoming the Senior Administration Officer. In 1997 he became the Manager of Local Government elections at the WAEC, and has continued to work in local government ever since.

Russ is one of a select few of professional officers that is also an elected member. Serving as a Councillor at the City of Joondalup, he has also been elected as a member of the WALGA State Council, and is now a member of the Local Government Advisory Board.

A committed LGMA member, and active Committee Member of the LGMA Metropolitan Branch, Russel is a deserving recipient. He has spent many years giving of himself to the community and the sector.

Stephen Goode

Long before he was the CEO at the , Stephen began his career in local government as a Rate Clerk at the in 1969. A year later he travelled north to become the Senior clerk at the , and in 1981 became the Assistant Shire Clerk at Derby West Kimberley.

Two years later he took on his first Shire Clerk role at the , and then at the .

In 1988 he came to the city, and took the job as Town Clerk at the , before eventually becoming the CEO of the in 1997.

Over a 40 odd year career, Stephen has earned a well deserved reputation for getting things done. He has been an exceptional supporter of our association, as well as a Board member, and a committed supporter of the need for professional development of officers, volunteering his time to mentor and support the development of younger officers.

LGMA Medal

Not given every year, the LGMA Medal is awarded in recognition of outstanding achievements and contributions in Local Government.

This year, we have two such recipients, whom despite having lead quite different careers both found they had much in common, in the shared cause of representing and protecting the interests of our members.

Shayne Silcox

Shayne has over 40 years experience spanning the Private Sector, State and Local Government arenas. He has extensive government, corporate and commercial knowledge, direct experience in managing large workforces, as well as board and director experience across a wide range of small to large businesses.

His career has seen him successfully operate in various industries sectors, including; Transport, Energy Research, Energy (Electricity and Gas), Business Development, Consulting (Business Excellence and Strategic Planning), Commercial Services, Management, Construction and Maintenance.

However, it is for his tremendous service to local government and the LGMA that we recognise.

In 1997 Shayne took on the role of Director of Commercial Services at the City of Gosnells, and in the year 2000 reached his goal of becoming a CEO in local government at the

In 2004 he took the CEO role at the , before moving to the where he continues to serve.

Shayne has been an LGMA Board member for nearly 10 years, served as our State President from 2011- 2013 and was elected to be the National President of our Federation in 2015, finishing up his Presidency in April this year.

Few people are as passionate about Local Government as Shayne. In fact, few people are as passionate about anything as Shayne is about local government.

He truly lives it, believes in it and does everything he can to further our sector, to better prepare officers, and to improve the performance of local governments.

A stand-out performer, Shayne is personable, animated, loud and energetic. A man who truly wears his heart on his sleeve.

Mark Chester.

Mark is in many ways Shayne’s opposite.

Mark began his career in local government at the , as an Administration officer, and worked his way up from the bottom.

In 1987 he took the role as Assistant Shire Clerk , and the advanced to become the Shire Clerk Shire of Broomehill Tambellup,in 1990, before returning to Gnowangerup to become Shire Clerk / CEO there. Always good to go back as the CEO.

In 1996, he became the CEO at the Shire where he remained for nearly 20 years, leading the Shire from a small town on the way to Bunbury, to becoming an exciting and growing regional centre.

One of the most respected leaders within our membership, Mark’s affable nature and steady leadership was a rock for LGMA as we faced up to the metropolitan reform process.

A member of the Board, and serving as deputy and then State President in 2013 – 2015, Mark led our association through the reform process.

Advocating to government, standing up for members and continually pushing and demanding that the government understand the impact the process was having on people, local government officers.

Mark’s leadership was critical to our Association and our membership.

Mark also had to juggle this with his position of the Local Government Advisory Board.

Together Mark and Shayne were appointed by the Minister to the LGAB, as the LGMA representatives.

Both Mark and Shayne carried a heavy load for our sector, trying to that mess out with their colleagues on the Board can’t have been easy.

For their efforts they both received a lot of undeserved criticism. However, we know that both Mark and Shayne did that job with honour and integrity.

For their efforts on behalf of members and our sector we acknowledge them with the LGMA Medal.

Life Membership

Life Membership is the highest honour bestowed by our Association.

It reflects the significance of the achievement, contribution and service that must be given to receive it. It is bestowed upon one of our highest achievers and most accomplished members.

Eric Lumsden

In 1972 Eric began as a Planning Assistant Draftsman at the . He graduated to Assistant planning officer the following year, and two years later ascended to Planning Officer.

In 1986, he became the Director of Planning and Development at the , before becoming the CEO of the City of Swan in 1989.

In 2007, he reluctantly left the his role as the CEO of the City of Melville and the local government sector to take on the role of Director General of the Department of Planning and Infrastructure, a return to his profession, planning.

While there he oversaw, the break-up and restructure of the Department and the re-creation of the new Department of Planning. Not to long after, he also assumed the role of Chair of the Western Australian Planning Commission – and undertook the two full time simultaneously for several years.

Eric has been a tireless supporter of our sector. A leader within it, and a powerful voice for the autonomy and contribution of local government. A committed LGMA member, he was elected to the Board and served as State President, and National Vice President of our Association

Few people have given local government and local government officers more support.

Tonight we thank him for his support, service and contribution. Already a Fellow of our Association, now also a life member.