No Moore for Sydney

My role model in city government is Mayor Bloomberg. The guy has been in the job for a decade and is far more often admired than not. Politically he is independent.

He’s done many things right in his years in office. He has focused attention on measuring and setting goals for city services and developed a brilliant system of measuring results (using the city’s innovative 311 phone system as the one number the public calls to access non emergency council services).

And he employs “good sense.” He has buckled the long held attitude that “government knows best” and tossed out the mantra that says the best form of consultation is when city managers talk only to those who agree with them.

As my children Kate and Ben will freely attest, I’m not this city’s smartest woman, but I do have an appreciation for human resourcefulness. I can’t solve my city’s problems on my own.

As mayor, I would spend a lot of time thinking about who I could get together in the one room to analyse our city’s problems. What information I could provide them and what decision-making processes we could employ. Together. So that Sydney’s problems could be solved and solved quickly.

Sydney has many problems and a Mayor’s job is not to advocate for her constituents, not to protest and not to agitate. Her job is to solve and to deliver.

I have no political axe to grind. If you don’t believe me, check out my 350 page application for this job, better known as my latest book, A Passionate Life, published a couple of months ago.

You’ll read that I have worked with both sides of the political fence. I am not partisan. I am dedicated. I do not want the job of Mayor so I can regurgitate to you all the symptoms of what’s wrong with Sydney – violent behaviour, heavy traffic congestion, poor traffic management, insufficient consultations with business and community groups. Instead, I want to attack the root causes. I want to solve problems.

I am not seeking the job of Mayor for the money. I am not looking for something to occupy my time. I have a full plate. But I want the job in place of my current full plate.  I think coming to this job at my age has many, many more pluses than minuses. The biggest plus of all is decades of experience.

Another great city, New York, has a mayor whose experience has guided him to many victories. He’s lowered the crime rate and made all parts of the city safer to walk in after dark. He forced food vendors to list the number of calories on their offerings and he has outlawed the use of trans fats. Recently he stood up to the lobby group best known as Big Sugar by putting a cap on the size of sugar laden soft drinks available for sale.

Nobody comments negatively on his age. The guy, Mike Bloomberg, like me is 70.

So, I say to all of you, enjoy the city you live in. And let me make it work better.

Revel in its idiosyncrasies and take pleasure in its customs. Laugh at its foibles but resist the lure to apologise for them.

Above all, remember that what makes Sydney different is exactly what makes it great. And its greatness has no bounds. For those who don’t know me, my name is Ita Buttrose. And I want to be your mayor.