It was a double act with a difference at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre on Tuesday, May 12.
As a cross section of the community enjoyed breakfast, Mayor Rhys Williams and his right-hand man, chief executive Mark Newman laid out the City's vision for the next 12 months, from key priorities to challenges the city faces and how they would be tackled.
"You can just do rates, roads and rubbish if you like," Mayor Williams said.
"But there is so much more to growing a strong and vibrant city."
There was a sense of optimism in the room as Mayor Williams talked about the near-record building applications being approved currently and how the City was having the kinds of discussions with developers that "hadn't happened for a decade".
It was interesting to note the reason behind the foreshore and CBD revamps, both to create momentum and encourage more private investment in the City.
The $5 million Restart Mandurah plan in response to the economic impact of COVID was just the start of the City's plan to address structural unemployment, with diversifying the local economy high on the priority list, along with community safety and strong environmental initiatives.
"We don't want kids to leave school in Mandurah and have to decide where to go to further their goals. We want them to be able to study and have aspirational jobs where they grew up," Mayor Williams said.
Mr Newman also explained some of City's internal changes over the past two years, helping to make the council's vision possible by combining areas which need to work closely together. For example, Works and Services had melded with the Environmental department to create the directorate of Built and Natural Environment.
In closing, Mayor Williams said he saw Mandurah as a southern economic hub.
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