Leading A Close-knit Community

Illawarra Mercury

Saturday February 19, 2005

A conversation with BILL SIMPSON

IT was the surfboard and roof-rack on the mayoral limousine that tipped, well, at least one resident over the edge.

The resident did, of course, have a political motive for publicly raising the issue - he was running an election campaign against the mayor. And with an issue like that, he was certain to earn a headline for himself. It's better stuff than the usual local government rates, roads and rubbish!

The complainant candidate at last year's council poll was Werri Beach resident Rob Quinn. The target was the Kiama mayor, Sandra McCarthy, also a resident of Werri Beach. They're almost neighbours. They're both school teachers.

Obviously, being subjected to the sight of the mayoral Statesman passing by with surfboard on top was too much to bear.

Also obvious was the fact not too many Werri Beach - or Kiama - residents were fussed, because Mrs McCarthy was elected and Mr Quinn wasn't.

The story, however, typifies the mayoral family and the community in which they live. Being Kiama mayor is not officially recognised as a full-time role, although Mrs McCarthy puts in the time. Unlike Wollongong and Shellharbour, Kiama's mayor is elected by the councillors every 12 months - not the public for a four-year term.

Mrs McCarthy has been Kiama's mayor for the past four years and deputy mayor for five years before that. It's a role, she says, she and her husband, Jeff, take "very seriously". "We take the role seriously, but we don't take ourselves seriously," she says.

Mr McCarthy identifies himself as "the mayor's partner - whatever the opposite is to Lady Mayoress". He is amused at the fuss made by Mr Quinn about the car.

"I put the roof-racks on," he concedes. "Sandra has part private use of the car and I have approval to use it." They are claims confirmed by council general manager Michael Forsyth, who says Mrs McCarthy pays for private use.

The McCarthys won't say so, but there is the possibility Mr Quinn's public angst could have something to do with Labor Party payback. He was an endorsed ALP candidate at the last council election. She wasn't.

Mrs McCarthy used to be in the ALP. The party even endorsed her as its candidate for the Federal seat of Gilmore in 1999. She was unsuccessful. She was expelled by the ALP in 2001 after allowing herself to be elected mayor by the councillors, even though her Labor caucus colleagues on council were supporting Joyce Wheatley - the previous mayor.

The Labor Party has a quaint phrase for members who buck the caucus system. It's called "a rat". Mrs McCarthy recoils at the thought. Even Mr Quinn isn't impressed. "She is a very courteous woman," he says.

Mr McCarthy and two of the couple's three children opted out of the ALP in disgust at the party's actions. Mrs McCarthy has since been an independent member of the council.

Mr Quinn denies the payback theory. He says it has to do with Gerringong - Werri Beach's shopping centre - providing valuable income for the council through land sales, yet getting "so little in return". "Is a mayoral car with roof-racks the best (the council) can do for Gerringong?" he asks.

Safely ensconced in the mayoral role with the support of independent councillors, Mrs McCarthy has moved on from that issue. She says the people of Gerringong - and Kiama - know and support her.

"I love living here. Our family has been here since 1978. Gerringong is one of those places where you can go to the supermarket and people will ask about the kids and I will ask about their kids. We don't talk about council business. We talk about our families.

"I went to the shop the other day to get some milk. There were some young people sitting outside a shop eating fish and chips. They said: 'Hello, Sandra; Hello, Mrs Mac'. Nobody says: 'Oh, there's the mayor'. We don't have any pretensions here."

Mrs McCarthy is from a family of passionate people "to the left of politics and with an independent nature". Her father was a Veigel, pioneers of Woonona in the 1850s. Two great uncles, Arthur and Sono, played soccer for Australia in the 1920s. It was a coalmining family.

A grandfather was banned from working in coalmines in NSW. A grandmother was a seamstress and shop steward in Sydney. Her mother worked for the Communication Workers' Union, often agitating for the rights of the membership.

Mrs McCarthy was schooled at a Catholic convent. She trained as a home economics, textile and design teacher and taught at Oak Flats, Kiama and Dapto high schools. She occasionally took time off from teaching to raise three children, whose current ages range from 15 to 25.

She and her husband have been involved in community organisations almost since they arrived at Werri Beach - school and sports canteens, children's playgroup committees, progress associations. Mr McCarthy was first president of the Werri Beach Boardriders' Club and now helps out as a doorman at the Gerroa Boat Fishermen's Club.

"Gerringong is a small town - the sort of town where you make your own fun and contribute to the community. We're no different to anybody else who lives here. We are very much part of the culture of a small community," Mrs McCarthy says.

She extends the community concept to the whole of Kiama. "Kiama is a community where people get in and do things together."

Mrs McCarthy chooses her words carefully. It's noticeable in our interview at her Werri Beach home and I mention it to her. "Yes, I do," she acknowledges. "I do so consciously because I am the mayor of Kiama Council. I respect that role. I value the council and community that put me there. I don't want to say anything that would bring discredit to or devalue the community or the council staff."

Mr McCarthy - her campaign manager in council and Federal election campaigns for the past 10 years - says she has become a more accomplished public performer.

"She's smarter, more intelligent in the sense of being more astute. She reads people better now," he says.

"I'm not as vulnerable as I used to be," she adds. "Jeff is more practical than I am. I can be a visionary, but he can make it happen."

In his private life Mr McCarthy has a lawnmowing contract business. In public life, he is the mayor's husband.

"There's really no requirement (as mayor's partner)," he says. "But I think I act with decorum. I dress appropriately when I go to functions with Sandra. Initially, there were a few embarrassments because I wasn't included in the invitations.

"It took a while, but they soon realised that we were a pair. At home, I answer the calls and take the messages."

The phone rings. Mr McCarthy answers. "10.30 am tomorrow for a school meeting?" he asks his wife. "Yes, confirm that," she says. "Confirmed," he says.

"Sandra has a full-time secretary at the council who handles most business, but we sometimes get calls at home. That's what we mean about Kiama being a community."

Mr McCarthy does more around the house now his wife is mayor. "We've been married 30 years. I suppose we're an old-style married couple. We have family tensions. The phone doesn't stop ringing. I cook tea and I know how to vacuum.

"It's been a change. I was brought up by my grandmother, so I was a very spoiled child. But if I go to something Australia Day my sleeves are rolled up and I'll put the chairs on the stage and I'll put the banners up. I don't mind."

"That's right," Mrs McCarthy says. "One of the Rotary Club blokes rang. They were running a barbecue. They knew Jeff had a tent from the boardriders' club and they were wondering if he could get the tent up there (the park) early in the morning.

"I don't suppose anybody would ring Alex Darling's (Wollongong Lord Mayor) partner and ask for a tent. It's what we do. We're a community council."

Mr McCarthy has never run for council. "They've never required a dummy runner," he says. "I'm a backroom person."

The phone rings again. Mrs McCarthy answers.

"It's for me," she says. "See Bill out, Jeff." He smiles and shows me to the door.

© 2005 Illawarra Mercury

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