I have been reflecting on what people before me have said and unfortunately it is
often the case that we don’t
appreciate what we have until it has gone.
And it is
certainly a mark of the man that
there are so many people here
this morning to bid their farewells.
I don’t know a great deal about Ross and that’s a shame but I have to assume
that was the way he wanted it to be.
When I first took over the Sydney District from a housing perspective
I had not previously met
Ross. His reputation had proceeded him however and I very quickly became aware he had not
had a very productive working relationship with people before me.
So very early in the process,
I invited Ross into my office,sat him down and asked him how we could work together to achieve the outcomes
we both needed.
He told me
later that no one had ever done that before and I think that more than anything led to a comparatively amicable working
relationship.
I found Ross to be a very interesting person and someone I quite enjoyed working with. He was interesting because he was someone you always
had to be on your toes with.
There were times when I would make a comment in a meeting and he would
raise an objection stating that in October
2012 you said so and so.
And I would think DID I? Sounds like something I would say and so I would have to explain why what I was saying
now was quite different to what I had said previously. lt may have been because
of a policy change, change in funding or something else may have changed but I
could always rely on Ross to ensure we
kept the message consistent.
He was certainly
someone who challenged me on a regular
basis and I really quite enjoyed that interaction. I fondly remember several occasions where Jennie Leigh my EA and I would walk out of a meeting at which Ross had been present and I would comment to her that
I had
really enjoyed that interaction. Jennie would just smile and shake her
head.
For me the pleasure came from chairing a tenant representative
meeting and interacting with
all our reps but certainly part of it was the
challenge of trying
to stay a step ahead of Ross.
But please don’t
get me wrong. If you have ever hit your thumb with
a hammer, that’s a little bit like what it was like to
work with Ross sometimes. He could certainly be a pain and I can say that because
I once said it to him personally.
He just said GOOD TO KNOW ITS WORKING
BRETT.
Ross was a prolific writer on
behalf of the PEOPLES PRECINCT
and it was not
unusual to get two or three letters a week from him all of which went to Mikey Madder our Manager for Operational Support
for a formal response (a process
I don’t
think Mikey will miss much) and then if
Ross didn’t get the response he wanted
he would often write to the Minister.
In spite of the workload he created
I respected Ross and I did so for two specific
reasons:
The first was that the majority of
what he did he did for other people and
that is something I
value
The second was that there at least 3 occasions
that I remember where
Ross had raised specific
issues with me and they would be issues where I had not yet been able to provide him with a response. lt might have been an issue that
required Ministerial approval, it might have needed special
funding or was something that needed
further consideration and I had simply not been able to resolve yet.
On those three occasions, we had been about to enter a Lord Mayor forum, A Ron Hoenig
forum or simply
a tenant meeting
and I took Ross aside and I
said to him:
This is the issue you have raised with me. This is the outcome I
am trying to achieve but it is
sensitive and I would appreciate it if you don’t
raise it at this forum.
He never once let me down.
lt is obvious that Ross took his self-appointed role very seriously and he would certainly let you know when he was unhappy
with the standard of service delivery. I think he used to take perverse
delight in luring
you into a false sense of security
and then bashing
you on the thumb with a hammer again as if to say I am still here.
He did however
have a human side. He didn’t show it often. Not to us anyway. But when Alison O’neill the previous
team leader in Waterloo advised Ross she was moving to Western Sydney
he wrote to her.
And in his letter, he
thanked her for what she
had achieved and for what she had tried to achieve.
From our perspective, it was that rarely seen human side that
made
Ross stand out as someone special.
I don’t know what drove Ross.
I don’t
think many of us did. There is a quote here from Ross that he valued people and community and he certainly demonstrated that through the years I have known him.
He definitely took pride in championing the
lot of those who either could not or would not speak for themselves.
For me personally, I value the working relationship I was able to establish with Ross.
And one thing is certain. Ross has left a
legacy for the Waterloo residents that will live on well into the future.