ONE of the great things about this term of council is the willingness of councillors to focus on teamwork - never an easy thing to achieve in politics.
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Shortly after the September 2012 election, the nine elected Councillors got together for broad discussions on what we wanted to achieve, quickly realising that we shared important goals and ambitions for council.
Everyone agreed on the need for better organisational efficiency. But we also agreed on about a dozen issues needing our attention.
Soon after, the councillors set up nine portfolios covering broad areas of operation in council - Communications, the Glasshouse, Major projects, IT and organisational efficiency, Finance and Governance, Commerce industry and higher education, Events and tourism, Roads and infrastructure, and Future planning.
Each councillor is the chair of one portfolio, and the deputy for another.
The establishment of portfolios was a good move for councillors because it divided up the work that we mutually wanted to achieve, permitting us to collectively get on top of both the details and active management of issues.
The portfolios have also proved to be a good move for the community, because they address a real weakness in the local government system, which is the exclusion of councillors from day-to-day operational matters.
Under the portfolio system, the councillors of each portfolio are afforded much greater access to the relevant council director/s, as well as the detail on issues.
We also have the opportunity for in-depth discussions about making constructive change in the organisation.
As chair of the Roads and Infrastructure portfolio, with Cr Mike Cusato I have regular meetings on not only Roads, but also Water/ Sewer, and Buildings/Recreation.
As deputy chair of the Future Planning portfolio, with Cr Trevor Sargeant I have regular meetings with the directors of 'Development and Environment' and 'Community and Organisational Development'.
Councillors also have a catch-up meeting every second Wednesday, where we keep each other appraised of portfolio developments, and discuss emerging issues.
Being essentially a local service-provider, council works best when party politics are kept out of it and everyone knuckles down to achieve agreed goals.
(Please note that these are Cr Intemann's opinions and not necessarily the opinion of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council)
