Bruce Kent bows out - Former councillor fills vacancy

AFTER several years of serving his community at Bass Coast Shire, now former councillor Bruce Kent made the difficult decision to step down from the role.

He spoke with the Sentinel-Times last week reflecting on his time at council including the highs and lows, while sharing his thoughts on what could be improved. 

Bruce explained it was becoming increasingly difficult to fulfil his duties as a councillor after taking on a new full-time job in Melbourne, ultimately leading to his early resignation before the next council election.

“When I was coming out of full-time police employment, I was fortunate enough to be able to write my own roster when I was in charge of San Remo police station,” he said when detailing his decades long career in the police force.

“That involved me rostering myself off every Wednesday and also making myself available for community events during the week.

“That was okay for a while, but I was made an offer to go back to work… it meant Monday to Friday, long daylight hours and working up in Melbourne.”

Mr Kent highlighted this meant he was only able to do online meetings as well as juggling council briefings.

“I had to do quite a bit of private study after hours to catch up on what councillors were being briefed on during the week,” he said.

“I found this recent four years was different to the first four years (after being first elected), we managed to do a great deal of work just on Wednesday,” he said.

“But over COVID, meetings progressed to an early afternoon and a lot of the briefing sessions had been dispersed over the week.

“I did make arrangements to have half a day off and rush down to Wonthaggi for a later meeting in the afternoon.

“I did put that to other councillors as it would have been of assistance to me to be in-person and be able to debate… as I must admit when you’re online you do feel isolated and feel like you can’t properly debate the issues at hand.

“So I made that decision due to the circumstances, I wasn’t giving the position the justice it deserved and I believed it was unfair to my other councillors in Westernport.”
Council reflection

Mr Kent spoke of some highlights during his time as a councillor, such as the Pioneer Bay road and drainage upgrade.

“That’s a big highlight for me, that was a lot of work by both councillors and council officers but I can see the outcomes for that, in my opinion, are fantastic for the community,” he said.

“Shetland Heights Road, that was a couple of years of ongoing work, and again it’s a great outcome for community members.

“It would be great to see all roads within Bass Coast paved.”

However, he did express his disappointment in the shire’s skatepark strategy.

“I know we got a new strategy but as I said in open council, I’m of the opinion that the youth and not so young skateboarders, especially at Cape Woolamai and San Remo, had lost out in a big way,” he said.

“I honestly don’t think that any upgraded new skate park in Cowes will occur for another 10 plus years, as the carnival site has to be developed.

“Aquatics (strategy and upgrades) was a big one, but we’ve got to be realistic that we’re talking millions of dollars.

“But I believe that Cowes deserves an aquatic’s centre but there’s got to be some hard work there.”

Mr Kent also highlighted that he believes the shire’s rates system needs to be reviewed, saying his own rates had risen by more than 30 per cent compared to last year, as well as council CEO wages.

Advice for prospects

With a council election coming up in 2024, Mr Kent said he would love to see some new candidates put their hand up.

“I believe people need to go into council with their eyes wide open, it’s a huge workload,” he said.

“It does involve them having to make attendances during the week and weekend.

“But I would love to see some younger people in there and I believe that there should be better education once you become a councillor.

“Having a diversified group can only assist council, and you should become a councillor not bringing any agendas with you, apart from the agenda of wanting to make it a better place.”

Former councillor elected.

Geoff Ellis has been elected as a councillor for Western Port Ward, as the only eligible candidate remaining from the October 2020 general election.

Mr Ellis was officially sworn in on Monday, August 14, prior to the next council meeting this Wednesday.

He was previously a councillor at Bass Coast Shire Council from 2016 to 2020.

“The Victorian Electoral Commission invited Mr Ellis to declare he was still qualified to be a councillor in writing,” Election Manager Charmaine Morel said.

“As Mr Ellis returned the declaration within the required 14-day timeframe, he has been declared elected."

Ms Morel declared the result at 10:30am on Friday, August 11.

If there are more vacancies in Western Port Ward before the 2024 general election, the Victorian Electoral Commission will hold a by-election.