Since January, we have seen an already difficult work environment become even tougher.

What we discovered when we started planning for the short, medium and long-term sustainability of Kiama Council, was that things were not as we had expected.

Tonight, at the time of my writing this, we’ll have a Council meeting to table a letter from the NSW Auditor General to the Minister for Local Government. It’s accurate and spells out the errors of the past that plague the present and mean the Auditor is unable to conclude our audit for Financial Year 2020-21.

It’s not pretty. But it does validate what we have been openly saying about the seriousness of our financial situation ever since we were elected.

My hope is we’ll accept the letter, acknowledge the issues, share the information and set about resolving the problems as a matter of urgency.

The unfortunate downside of openness, however, can be that people respond by behaving badly. This is usually due to shock, fear and the terrifying prospect of change and the unknown. This creates more tension and unease. Inside even the most functional teams, negative emotions can take up space that we should be used to consider what’s best for the community.

But there will always be some who can’t accept less than perfection, some who want to change everything around, and some who want to deny the past.

The reality of this moment is that the Office of Local Government is watching every move we make, which doesn’t make things any easier. But we’ve got to keep doing what we’ve been elected to do. Make decisions, determine our best future and resolve to reach it.

As a Council, we are undergoing a massive reform. Most of us here are feeling like we have been dice in a cup and we’ve been shaken up and thrown out onto a board and wherever we landed, that’s our new role. Lots of us have found ourselves in quite different places than where we started in 2022.

I want everyone in the community to know that we are all doing the best we can. There’s enormous pressure on us right now to keep up the pace, even though we are doing new work with new people, with information that is relatively new to come to light.

More than all this, this Council have chosen to be more open than any Council before us.

That’s not to say we can slow down for a minute, but please forgive us if we make a few mistakes on the way. For instance, I have been known to get a bit techy three-and-a-half hours in to a four-hour meeting at the end of a long day, but I’m OK after a good night’s sleep and I apologise for being Mr Cranky-Pants to everyone.

My take-home message here is we all need to look after ourselves, and each other. Be compassionate and try to remember that everyone is in the same boat.

We all care about the same things: that our Municipality is well-run, well-managed and continues to be the best place in the world.

As we move through the significant challenge that openness brings, it's entirely normal to wobble for a while. This is OK because we’re on a learning curve, we’re righting the ship.

People are tired, stressed and under pressure but they’re still showing up and working hard. For this I am truly grateful.

Lastly, a shout out to the entire Council team and those helping us. Your curiosity, consideration and desire to serve our community has brought reassurance and inspiration to me and everyone who benefits from your work.