LAST weekend’s Kingston Council elections on 22 October marked the end of the local government line for longtime councillor John Ronke who decided not to contest the election after 17 years as an elected representative at council.
Mr Ronke was council’s longest-serving councillor having been in office for 17 years since Kennett era council amalgamations in 1997.
He said he is going to miss being a councillor but felt the time was right to step aside having become increasingly disillusioned with a younger generation of local government representatives who he believes are more focused on personal political gain than helping their community.
“To be honest, it’s not even close to what it used to be like. It used to be really enjoyable. You’d discuss an issue on its merits and there were never any ill-feelings or anything like that,” Mr Ronke said.
“You’d have your stoushes but these days there’s too much politics involved.”
He dubbed some younger councillors “political animals” who often abstain or leave the council chamber so they do not vote against “the party line” even if it is for the betterment of the community.
Mr Ronke praised former Kingston councillors Arthur Athanasopoulos, Bill Nixon and Topsy Petchey for the way they put policy above politics.
“They were 100 per cent for the community. These days there’s so much politics in it, it just wore me down.”
He said he had seen many changes in the Kingston area over the years and nominated the establishment of the Waterways housing estate as a big achievement during his near two decades in council.
“I was the ward councillor then and if I’d gone against it then it probably wouldn’t have happened,” Mr Ronke said.
He admitted the move to take the land out of the green wedge for development was “controversial” at the time.
Turning around council’s fortunes after 1997 is also a highlight. He said council was effectively a financial basketcase – having not been as fortunate as neighbouring councils to have got a windfall from the privatisation of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria – when he arrived on council.
Mr Ronke said then mayor Arthur Athanasopoulos convinced councillors to not focus on their re-election chances for the greater financial good by backing a 15 per cent rates rise to plug council’s fiscal black hole at the time.
“We were virtually bankrupt. If we had been a business we would have been insolvent. He held fast and said ‘we’ve got to do it for the organisation, if we all lose, we lose but at least the organisation will be in a good financial position’…that was the turning point.”
As for advice for new councillors who will enter council for the first time, Mr Ronke recalled being out for payback when first elected to council back in 1997 having previously had dealings with council officers as a member of the Aspendale Gardens Residents Association.
“I was angry and was going to go in and settle scores with so many of the council officers who we felt had patronised the community,” he said.
“I still think the first bit of advice I ever got from Bill Nixon is valuable. He said: ‘Don’t come in with any preconceived conceptions – come in with an open mind, treat everybody with respect, listen to other points of view and decide every issue on its merits.’
“I took a deep breath and that was the best bit of advice I ever had and I’m happy to pass that on to anybody.”
Cr Ronke, who has often been absent from public council meetings during the 2012-16 council term due to “bad luck” with his health, said he is looking forward to relaxing in retirement.
The 62-year-old and his wife have just moved into a home in Carrum they bought several years ago they intend to renovate together.
“I retired from the fire brigade four years ago. I did 35 years for the MFB [Metropolitan Fire Brigade].”
He said his biggest regret is “not being able to get along” with some councillors who, in his opinion, had “ideological views”.
“As far as decisions go, everything I wanted to achieve I achieved.”
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 2 November 2016
