After decades in local government, Bellambi's Janice Kershaw is downing tools

In 1991, a then 28-year-old Janice Kershaw was elected to Wollongong City Council – and she quickly learnt the position required a thick skin.

“Peter Cullen from the Mercury ran an editorial about how terrible it was I got voted onto council when I only got 137 votes, because of the way the preferential voting system worked back then,” she said.

“But I was so excited I got 137; I couldn’t believe anyone had voted for me at all.”

Although her first stint on council was largely thanks to her running mate, David Campbell, she quickly rose to the top of the ticket in subsequent elections.

After decades on council she has chosen not to run again and will instead enjoy a well-earned retirement.

During her time as a councillor Janice juggled full-time work with a daily commute to Parramatta, raised two children and battled family health challenges alongside her council responsibilities.

An afficionado of ruthless to-do lists, she said the secret to making it work was simply to never stop.

“You have to accept you can’t do everything perfectly, and women want to,” she said.

“A manager told me once she was like a juggler with rubber balls and crystal balls, and she just had to focus on not dropping the crystal balls.

“You work it out, you fit things in and deal with them. At work I’d go on my lunch break and that’s when I’d send emails or ring people on council business.

“Then I’d come home, do dinner and go out the front and do the same. You need good time management and you just don’t stop.”

Born in Bulli Hospital, Janice had a drive to help others from an early age.

She studied psychology and sociology at university and considered careers in nursing and the police force before she took a job with the Office for State Revenue.

In the workforce she acted as union delegate and asked the questions others felt too timid to raise.

She also spent a significant amount of time on committees and as an active member of the Labor Party.

Janice said those commitments prepared her for the workload as a councillor, before she added motherhood to the mix with the arrival of her first child in 2002 and her second two years later.

In 2008, after she had spent almost 20 years on the council, she was blindsided by the ICAC scandal.

“Someone called and asked me why all the computers were being taken out of the council building, and I didn’t know,” she said.

“Then it all came out, we found out ICAC were taping our phones and everything.

“I was absolutely shattered. I remember standing in the general manager’s office and crying, it felt so unfair.

“I’d never done anything, ever, that wasn’t right, and I couldn’t understand why they were sacking the whole council.”

Despite the cloud of suspicion all councillors and council employees were under, Janice was determined to come back and make things better.

She said one of the main reasons the Wollongong City Council of today lacked much of the bickering that characterised other councils was because of the lessons learned from that time.

“I thought I did a good job of representing my community and I hadn’t done anything wrong,” she said.

“Obviously the community agreed because they voted me back in.

“I’m glad I ran again. If I didn’t, I wonder if people would have thought I was one of that bunch?

“When we got democracy back in 2011 that group of councillors were determined to reestablish the community’s trust.

“We wanted to be cooperative, to try and get consensus, to find ways to get wins for everyone.

“You don’t have to agree with somebody or their idea, but you can be respectful.”

Janice said her proudest moments as a councillor were when she could make a difference in people’s day-to-day lives.

Two that stood out were installing a track for children to learn how to ride their bikes in hilly Balgownie, and upgrading neighbourhood shopping areas.

Her greatest frustration was the lack of action on the Bellambi foreshore master plan.

“That area is God’s gift to the world,” she said.

“The problem is you have a Sydney Water site, council owned land, Housing NSW owned land, privately owned land and heritage concerns.

“We’ve got some improvements, the overflow carpark and the bollards, but there’s so much more we could do.”

Janice said her decision to step away from council wasn’t an easy one, but there were three reasons that made her feel the time had come.

“I’m torn and very sad,” she said.

“But I am a member of the Labor Party and I’d like to go of my own choice.

“The council has got to be representative of the community, and it’s time for a generational change.

“The third reason is I’m just so frustrated about not being in control of our own destiny.

“A council our size is like the Titanic, it takes a long time to change direction. Some simple things can be so hard and it’s so frustrating.”

Despite the challenges, most of her memories of her time on Wollongong City Council will be positive ones.

Being a councillor comes with few perks – but one of the best ones, Janice said, was surprising people.

“People think we don’t pay rates, or we get a council car,” she said.

“People ring up and ask, ‘Can I meet you in your office?’ and I say, ‘Well you can come to my house and have a coffee.'”