By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
JIM Memeti is confident he can bring peace to Greater Dandenong’s bitterly-divided council if elected as mayor this Thursday.
Far from worried by possibly winning a poisoned chalice, councillor Memeti said he can once again stabilise the council – much like in his previous stint in 2009-10 following Pinar Yesil’s “turbulent” mayoralty.
This year, he wants to similarly placate bad blood among councillors.
Council meetings have recently descended into public spats over mayor Angela Long and chief executive John Bennie’s confidential probe into councillors Maria Sampey and Peter Brown.
“I think I had the skill and capability to bring that council (of 2009) together and work constructively for the community,” Cr Memeti said.
“I’m expecting the councillors under my leadership to stick together and work for the community.
“When we vote on something and some councillors don’t agree, we need to agree to disagree and move on. That’s what the community expects.”
He speaks brightly of working together with council officers in a “team effort” to get the best results for the city, and working with businesses and Places Victoria to continue revitalising central Dandenong.
One of the lynchpins of central Dandenong is the $62 million municipal building project, due for completion in April.
Cr Memeti’s other pet project is to lobby the state government for the removal of traffic-jamming level-crossings, especially at Heatherton Road, Noble Park.
