At the last council meeting our nine councillors resolved to continue the portfolio system, with each councillor assigned a certain area of council operations for special attention.

As best I can discover, ours is the only council in NSW with a portfolio system at work and working.

We’re the only council where councillors agree to work as a team and share the load, exercising an amount of trust and hopefully putting aside political conflicts on behalf of the community we are elected to serve.

The portfolio system does not mean there are no personal differences of opinion or voting.

But it does tend to unite us into at least the semblance of a team, with each one responsible for keeping up with the detail of a certain area of council’s operations and informing the rest of the group in that area.

The portfolio system would not work on its own account.

It works to the extent that councillors are willing to see the group as a team, respect other’s views and not tell porkies about council to the public.

With councillors working as a team there is, I grant you, less entertainment for the public – fewer public stoushes and crisis headlines.

But is entertainment what’s really wanted from politics?

Or would you rather your local representatives just get on with the business without the inevitable waste of time and energy from conflict for its own sake?

Portfolios don’t limit the involvement of councillors in any area of council.

You can still contact any councillor on any subject, or contact all of us at once by emailing councillors@pmhc.nsw.gov.au

The success of portfolios makes our council remarkable in mutual respect among councillors, regardless of political divisions they might have.

Cr Intemann is deputy mayor of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.

These are Cr Intemann’s opinions and not necessarily Council’s.