INCOMING City of Ballarat councillor Glen Crompton’s last name translates to “crooked village”, but he plans to be more ethical than his name suggests.
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“I’m not going in there with a cowboy attitude vowing to clean up a one-horse town,” said Mr Crompton, ahead of being sworn in as councillor on Wednesday.
“I’m more interested in rolling up my sleeves and contributing at a fairly functional level.”
Mr Crompton replaces former Central Ward councillor John Burt, who resigned in May after admitting he told four councillors to elect a Liberal-aligned mayor for the betterment of Ballarat.
Ballarat-born Mr Crompton believes it’s his and his colleagues’ job to “take the oxygen away” from public negativity surrounding public figures by creating a functional council.
“Our job is to be judged by our deeds not by our press,” he said.
“It looks like a good bunch of councillors and I don’t see a great deal of division or a great deal of acrimony.”
Being elected via count back was unexpected for Mr Crompton, given he was so far behind on the first preference count.
But, as he explains, all first preference tallies are wiped during count back, meaning the preferences from the resigning candidate are distributed accordingly.
“The legislation (Local Government Act 1989) was designed in that way to create a situation where the will of reigning councillor was going to influence his replacement,” he said.
Mr Crompton’s career has taken a number of curious twists before becoming a councillor.
Formerly a bank clerk, turned commercial photographer, he became a full-time musician and then moved into an administration role for a local transport company.
“I specialise in finding ways to ruin hobbies by making them careers,” he said.
Mr Crompton admits he did, at times, wonder whether his eclectic mix of employments would amount to anything, but it seems they will all tie together with his new role.
The new councillor plans to adopt a laid back, neutral role to his councillorship.
“It’s not my job to arrive with a wheelbarrow full of issues. It’s better to have the community come to me and see what they want,” he said.
However, there were issues, like the Civic Hall and the saleyards, that “seem to have dragged on” that needed to be resolved, he said.
Mr Crompton will be sworn in as a councillor at a special council meeting on Wednesday.
william.vallely@fairfaxmedia.com.au
