Mayor Malicki

Elaine Malicki secured the mayorship of Ku-ring-gai last month with a draw from the hat following a five all tie with the incumbent mayor Adrienne Ryan.

"I've always been really proud driving around Ku-ring-gai when I see the trucks that say 'Ku-ring-gai Council'. They don't know I'm there, but I love watching them do their thing." Photo by Amelia Pulsford

The new mayor admits the way she was elected was "less than ideal." State MP for Ku-ring-gai Barry O'Farrell has called for a referendum to change the electoral process. He would like the mayor elected to a four year term by popular vote.

Cr Malicki says that while she understands Mr O'Farrell's point, she's torn on the issue. "I've worked under some very bad mayors. Had they been mayor for four years, a lot of irretrievable damage would have been done."

"I'm a great believer in the people deciding," says Cr Malicki "but I'm also aware that a lot of people walk into an election and don't even know the candidates."

Following her defeat, Cr Ryan told the North Shore Times, "Cr Malicki has divided this council over the past 18 months and she's done it with past councils."

"That's a load of rubbish," says Cr Malicki. "I think the evidence of that is Cr Ryan lost support, I gained it over the past year."

The new mayor is not worried about getting support from her colleagues. "In the first years people don't vote the same way as I do but by the last two years of every council I've been on, they all vote my way." She says that's because she sticks to her guns.

Cr Malicki admits it will be quite a task to unite the council, but she says "Nick Ebbeck is being a fabulous Deputy. He's promised me his support."

Politics aside, Cr Malicki has bigger and more immediate battles ahead, namely the development of Ku-ring-gai town centres.

"We're required to include shop top housing and to revitalise our shopping centres." It's a directive by the previous Minister for Planning.

"Because it's a directive, we're stuck with it," she says. "If we disobey, there are serious consequences so that's a big issue for us."

Although everyone acknowledges that the centres are pretty tired-looking and need some revitalising, "people don't want change," she says.

Cr Malicki first saw Ku-ring-gai as a sixteen-year-old while driven by her parents to meet her then-boyfriend's family in Turramurra. "Everyone was chaperoned in those days."

Cr Malicki found that people lived in what she perceived as a 'forest' the most "extraordinary thing, whereas I originally came from the Inner West where there wasn't a tree bigger than a lemon tree."

The most extraordinary thing of all is that the house Cr Malicki ultimately moved into, is in the same street she came to visit her first boyfriend all those years ago.

Ku-ring-gai's natural environment remains one of Cr. Malicki's passions. She plans to move around the layout of the previous mayor's office so that her desk will face out to look at the 'forest' 100 years of mayors have protected.

She also speaks about people with passion. One of the first things she did as mayor was introduce herself to "the man who removes the graffiti."

"I've always been really proud driving around Ku-ring-gai when I see the trucks that say 'Ku-ring-gai Council'. They don't know I'm there, but I love watching them do their thing," she says, which is "making Ku-ring-gai run."

As mayor, Cr Malicki wants to "fully recognise what staff do, showcase their achievements to the community." She plans to have a report on the council website every three months outlining the different departments and their achievements over a period of time.

Having served on council for 14 years, Cr Malicki has seen local government go through significant changes, the biggest of which took place in 1993 when the Local Government Act changed and a greater division was made between the role of councillor and the role of staff.

"When I first arrived we could wander through the building and talk to any staff we liked," she says. "In a sense, I felt we were closer, but now there are two distinct groups. While that separation has to exist to a degree, to me that's a real downside."

One of Cr Malicki's major concerns over the past 18 months has been the closed nature of critical committee meetings such as finance, planning, policy and infrastructure - something she has already set about changing.

"I think because a lot of the councillors are new to local government, they haven't come from a system like I have where everything has been open and I think they're wary."

To demonstrate her commitment to openness, upon her election, Cr Malicki opened the mayor's diary to all councillors and the General Manager,  as well as any meetings she has with individuals.

"As far as I know, that's never happened in Ku-ring-gai before, so I'm trying to demonstrate that by being open personally, that's what we should be doing as a council.

"Funnily enough, when you say 'You're welcome to come,' people who might've been agitating to come before, don't bother, because they know we've got nothing to hide."

But despite her commitment to transparency, Cr Malicki says Ku-ring-gai residents shouldn't expect a significant shift in the direction and running of Ku-ring-gai Council.

"I don't think they should expect immediate changes," she says. "Because I don't think that's a good style of leadership. It's going to have to be done slowly."

Cr Malicki warns that these changes may not even happen "because to do that I need the support of the councillors. I hope to be able to convince them that it's the right thing to do and there's nothing to be afraid of in it."