LONG-serving Warrnambool City councillor Jacinta Ermacora will not be standing for re-election at October’s poll.
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Cr Ermacora has been a Warrnambool councillor for 12 years and served two terms as the city’s mayor.
She said she had decided not to stand for re-election because she wanted to give more time to her role as chairwoman of Wannon Water, a role she has held since October last year.
“It’s a good time to move on to the next stage,” Cr Ermacora said.
Cr Ermacora has been a Labor candidate for the Victoria Upper House but said standing again for election to another level of government “was not on my list”.
On her time as councillor, she light-heartedly said one of the things she had learnt was to “count to four,” four being the number of votes she needed for a majority vote to support her motions.
She had also learnt she would not be an effective councillor without having good relationships with the community, fellow councillors and council staff, she said.
“Being respectful, listening and understanding their perspective” were crucial in dealing with the many stakeholders in local government, she said.
“If you sit back and criticise, that is completely different,” Cr Ermacora said.
She said her time as a councillor also taught her that a lot of patience and determination were needed to bring ideas to fruition.
Cr Ermacora said she had enjoyed her time on the council and hoped more women would be elected.
“I’ve loved pushing community issues into the council,” Cr Ermacora said.
“I have loved the vigorous debate and then to have a laugh after the debate,” she said.
Among the council’s achievements she is proud to have been a part of are the development of the Pavilion building near the Warrnambool breakwater, the provision of affordable housing at Dennington and the dramatic increase in supply of industrial and residential land.
Other projects she was proud to have been involved in were the redevelopment of the Lighthouse Theatre, establishing a drainage fund that allowed more land to be opened up and the creation of the Small Infrastructure Fund for projects such as the Daltons Road footbridge across Russells Creek, she said.
