Justin Mammarella is looking forward to spending more time with his wife Yolanda and children Celeste, left, Marcus and Roselee, now that he has said goodbye to local government. 89073 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
By NATALIE GALLENTI
EXCLUSIVE:
WHEN Justin Mammarella was elected into council eight years ago he knew there was a long road ahead of him.
With very little infrastructure in the eastern corridor of the municipality, residents were calling for greater facilities and Mr Mammarella was determined to make it happen.
Eight years on and the five-time mayor of Melton believes he has delivered on his election promises and has left the city in good shape.
Speaking exclusively to Star last week, Mr Mammarella said some of his greatest achievements in his two terms included the city status change, the introduction of a petition calling for a 24-hour general public hospital in Melton and the creation of the Taylors Hill Youth and Community Centre and Morton Homestead.
He said the duplication of Gourlay Rd and securing premises for both the Melton SES and RSL were also high on his list of feats.
And one achievement he is particularly proud of is the introduction of the Zero Tolerance to Child Abuse Campaign.
“I’m proud that I’ve delivered to my community,” Mr Mammarella said.
“I will miss the one-on-one role with residents, they have been very supportive of me and I have done my utmost to support them.”
Mr Mammarella said while the role of councillor was a daunting challenge initially it was one he adapted to easily.
“It was a challenge at the start because there was nothing here. It was a challenge convincing other councillors that in the eastern part we needed infrastructure. But my responsibility was first and foremost to the residents.”
The father of three said the backing of his wife Yolanda made all the difference.
“My wife is very supportive of me. It was hard but there were many good times as well. I was always out and about, a lot of late nights, it was hard, I would get home late and leave early and my kids wouldn’t see me…it was a sacrifice I had to make for eight years and as a result we have the area we have now.
“I definitely did what I set out to do.”
Now Mr Mammarella is looking forward to stepping into his latest role, working with Senator Kim Carr.
“I am excited about that and we’ll see, we’ll see after that what the future holds.”
But he will remain an interested observer of Melton City Council and said he hoped the new council would continue to work on what has been achieved in the past eight years.
“My advice would be to work very hard and constantly be in touch with residents. That worked for me. What was important for me was going to visit residents in their home and having a coffee with them. That’s work, that’s what you have to do. You have to hear it from the people.
“It’s a learning process for new councillors, as long as their ideas aren’t to the detriment of residents. They need to understand what concerns them isn’t what concerns 120,000 other residents.”
