Who is David Porter?
David is a supporter of the Triangle Tool Library in Cobargo
Who is David Porter, and why should he get my vote?
I was born in Bega and am proud of it. I live with my lovely wife Eva and two terrific children, Daytona and Austin, who attend Bega High.
I am not running for council to be part of the problems; I am running for council to be part of the solution." To achieve this, I will need your help. Let's start at the beginning…
Throughout my career, I have always had a passion for challenging "the way it is" and searching for a way to make things more functional and improve customer satisfaction levels. At 19 years old, I introduced the first home computers to Australia; within a few years, I developed vendor refill platforms that saw my products soar through all the major Department Stores and Retailers in Australia, which got the attention of Silicon Valley. I then worked with Bill Gates and Microsoft and introduced Windows to Australia; later, with Nokia Mobile phones, we went from an unknown brand to number 1 in Australia before I moved into the global telecoms industry, consulting with Telecom companies all over the world.
Key successes in my career were successfully negotiating, implementing and managing multi-million dollar projects in over a dozen countries. To achieve all this, I studied Contract Law, Business Administration, Finance, Business Process Reengineering, and Cyber Security and was certified in quality business processes by the International Standards Organisation under ISO9000. I was appointed Chairman of a global ethics and anti-fraud organisation, which has now been absorbed into the anti-fraud function of the i3forum.org.
I also built several startup businesses in Tourism Marketing and Telecoms and understand the pressures of operating a small business, especially in the tourism industry.
About seven years ago, my parents asked me to come home; because of their advanced age, they wanted to be cared for in their own home, so my wife and I took care of them while I worked part-time as the only employee dedicated to the Eden Magnet and over the last few years I developed and maintained the technology for the FlexiBus service that operates in Bega, Merimbula Pambula, Eden and Tura Beach.
The Community has many concerns regarding our council. With my experience in legal research, I offered to assist the community with issues such as e-zones and building restrictions under the 2013 LEP. In 2016, I lobbied the council over concerns that these anomalies would cause a lack of available housing in the shire five years before the housing crisis hit. I was also involved in other issues, such as grant applications and even the council ban on dog walking, where I co-authored a council motion and presented at the council meeting to have the ban overturned. When you walk your dog, you know who fought for you to have that right. Since then, I have followed council meetings closely and spoken whenever an issue needs a voice to represent the community. I have assisted several community projects, such as the Triangle Tool Library and bushfire fencing grants.
I am passionate about having a future council that exceeds the expectations of our community, is a council that is accountable, service-focused, focused, financially viable and efficient in its operation. Councillors work together to achieve the best possible outcomes for the community. We can reduce processing times, improve resident and employee satisfaction and improve efficiencies, ultimately taking the pressure off our rates."
I see myself as a Community Advocate, not a politician, and I am NOT affiliated with any political party; I firmly believe political parties do not belong in the council. I believe in Community, Common Sense, Sustainability, Transparency, Accountability and a High Standard of Ethics.
Many candidate profiles in this election discuss our problems and the problems we are suffering and say they want to help, but how?
Based on my extensive experience outlined above, I am READY TO DELIVER SOLUTIONS, to inefficiency, to finances, to skyrocketing rates, to our lack of resilience and water security, to our housing crisis, to our unhappy communities, to our unhappy council employees, to our zoning issues, to our failed projects, to our airport and even to our sustainability. As soon as someone says to me, "How are you going to fund this? I tell them ", Come along with me and be part of the solution; together, we can transform the council and benefit from the efficiencies of change.
Don't be part of the Problem, Be part of the solution, Vote 1 David Porter
For details as to how David's skills can be used on Council, see the Platform and Agenda Page
IN THE MEDIA
Radio stations regularly call on David Porter for comment on matters concerning Bega Valley Shire and has been on 2GB, 2MMM, 2EC, numerous times on the ABC and was described by 2UE as "a very intelligent and articulate Gentleman"
David has appeared in the Bega District News, Merimbula News Weekly, Eden Magnet and the Daily Telegraph.
David has been interviewed several times on Sky News and even appeared on the Matty Johns Show regarding Rugby League as a catalyst for bushfire recovery and the importance of grants in the community.
David was interviewed by several media outlets, including an appearance on Sky News after the black summer fires, about letters he wrote to the premier regarding bushfire preparedness.
NRL Video about Geoff Toovey coming to the Bega Valley to surprise David Porter and talk about the grant applications he has been involved in for sports-field Lighting. David Supports a Grants Center in Council to assist community groups in obtaining grant money. This video also aired on the Matty Johns Show; the whole video can be seen Here.
Questions and Answers
The Poplar trees that used to form the entrance to Bega were planted by David's Father, 2BE's Lawrence Porter, with Bega Rotary in the 1950s
Send your questions to david@begavalleyshire.com
Question from John Charlton: “Lot of simple, trite slogans from candidates about cutting rates and improving services. Tell us how? We’re not idiots”. David's Answer: Thanks for the question, John; I have not been promising cutting rates because that would be extremely difficult in the short term, given that the council is millions in the red. But let me share with you where I believe we can improve services and get rate rises back under control. The new council has the fantastic opportunity of hiring the new General Manager/CEO. If the new councillors have business experience, they can hire a CEO that will bring about structural change to the council. Currently, the council is a highly bureaucratic organisation that is compartmentalised and inefficient in its operations. By hiring a CEO who can envisage a true vision for the council, including embracing a balance between cultural and business management practices and getting that into a strategic plan, we should see the flattening of organisational structures, empowerment and accountability of staff, fast approval processes and the adoption of quality standards. The ultimate result will be a council that is service focused and much more efficient in its operation, making better decisions, and higher levels of services at a reduced running cost. We just need the ratepayers to choose the right councillors.
Question from Tracy Lee: “I’m wondering if any candidates are opting to lobby for Bega to be a charter member of ‘Smart Communities’ (the dept of land and infrastructure project around future tech).” David's Answer: Hi Tracy, actually I have over 30 years of experience in ICT and have implemented projects across Asia Pacific as a consultant to global Tech companies locally I developed the technologies that run the Flexibus service here in our shire. I am both interested and knowledgeable in smart technologies and always interested in empowering communities through their use. If we get enough open-minded candidates, we have an opportunity for our community to be leaders in this area, which I would be happy to champion.
Question from Martin Thompson: ”Independents ... really? Can all candidates say what political parties they are or have been members of.” David's Answer: Hi Martin, I am glad you asked. On July 3, Bega Valley Shire Council ran an information session for potential candidates. To ensure these candidates were independently briefed on every aspect of being a councillor they invited some highly experienced guest speakers namely the mayor of 9 years and councillor for 13 years of the Yass Valley Council, and a man who had served for 21 years as a councillor and Mayor to provided us with a great deal of information on every aspect of being a counsellor. In both cases, these highly experienced counsellors spoke of the damage done by allowing political parties into council and, in fact, cited an example of a council that had been destroyed by counsellors who were obligated to their political leaders. They both expressed to us their strong opinion that the best possible outcome from an election is to have a group of counsellors who are independent and working harmoniously for the community—that is, they are working for the community rather than a polarised council that is obligated to their political ideologies and leaders. For this reason, I’ve placed on my website a statutory declaration that I am not a member of any political party, that I have no obligations to any political party and in fact, I’ve never been a member of Labor, Liberal National or Greens parties in my entire life. I’m here standing as a community member for the community and those of you who have known me for some time will echo that I’ve worked for the community even just as a normal citizen. I say keep the political parties out of the council.
Question from Tracy Lee: “ I’d like to know which councillors will propose to put a cap on air bnb nights, to reduce the demand for short rentals and increase availability of long term rentals. No point having a tourist area if there’s nowhere for locals to live; locals who are needed to support tourism businesses.“ David's Answer: Hi Tracy, thanks for the question, I am not opposed to the cap as a short term solution, however, the Cap idea is actually not the right solution long term, its a bandaid solution to a bigger problem that was partly of councils own doing. The 2013 LEP reduced building entitlements, created huge minimum lot sizes and rezoned ratepayers private land without their knowledge, the move was an assault of land owner rights that stifled residential growth in the shire, about five years ago, a group of us (with no financial interest) lobbied council over these changes warning them that the moves were short sighted and likely to cause a crisis, but they stuck firm and here we are now. I am in favour of incentives and cooperation rather than regulation, I believe we need to bring together people with short term rentals and find a way to get their cooperation to move through this problem and incentivise them to help. The problem needs leadership rather than a big stick.
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