Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj is 100 days in and he’s only just getting started

Stretch Kontelj has given himself an “A” as he reflects on his first 100 days in the mayoral robes. The focus now is getting things done faster. HAVE YOUR SAY.

Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj. Picture: Alison Wynd

Stretch Kontelj is not apologising for ruffling feathers in his first 100 days as Geelong mayor.

Quite the opposite as he looks to embed a “can do” culture within the corridors of City Hall so ideas become reality at a more rapid rate.

A key component of Mr Kontelj’s campaign was a 100-day plan to address issues that, in some cases, he labelled “low hanging fruit”.

Those 100 days are up as of Thursday and while the ideas, such as a weekend market in Little Malop St and free CBD parking, are being worked on by city officers, none have yet come to fruition.

“The first 100 days, as far as effort and application is concerned, I’d have to give a score of ‘A’, in that everything that I was hoping we could start discussing and put in train, is,” Mr Kontelj said.

“A frustration is not being able to do things as fast as I’d like.

“Everyone is busy being busy within council, so for me the challenge is that we need to get to a way of working where execution eats strategy for breakfast.”

Stretch Kontelj and wife Paula ahead of Australia Day. Picture: Brad Fleet.

Having spent 17 years on council previously, including a year-long stint as mayor in 2001, Mr Kontelj has returned after an almost a decade with a thick skin.

He knows he can’t please everyone and trying to do so would be counter-productive, he said.

“I have the confidence to back myself … I’ve got two years as mayor and I don’t want to waste it,” he said.

“Sometimes you have to break eggs to make an omelette.”

Never was this attitude so apparent during the often divisive debate to bring back Australia Day celebrations.

Stretch Kontelj is thriving being back at City Hall. Picture: Alan Barber

Mr Kontelj will next week oversee what he is calling a “developer forum”, where property industry representatives will gather to discuss issues impacting the industry and how City Hall can help in getting more cranes in the CBD skyline.

“There are 15 approved permits for apartment buildings in central Geelong and I want to know what we need to do to get those projects off the ground,” he said.

Despite pushing to freeze rates, Mr Kontelj said wiping $50m off council’s $190m debt next financial year could be easily achieved, largely through the sell-off of council assets.

City officers are well advanced in their review of those properties, he said.

Having hit the 100-day mark, Mr Kontelj said he now wanted to start “moving through the gears”.

“(I’m) looking to introduce a culture (at City Hall) where we execute faster than has been done in the past … moving concepts from ideas through to execution, we need to do that quicker,” he said.

“We need to have an attitude that we’re open for business, we need to have a can do attitude, that’s going to be the mantra for my mayoral term from here on in.

“Sometimes it feels like you’re walking through a honey pot, pushing your way through, we need to just unclag the execution process.

“I’m happy to stand on soap boxes at depots and employee gatherings to give them my vision.”

Originally published as Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj is 100 days in and he’s only just getting started