At the 2009 Annual General Meeting of the Tuggeranong Community Council, Darryl Johnston was elected as the new President of the Council.
As his first act as the incoming President of the TCC, Darryl gave the following speech:
“Thank you.
I decided to stand for the position of Tuggeranong Community Council President because, like many of you, I was interested in the future direction of the Council.
In accepting the role of President I am now asking for your help to build on the Council, to build it into a Council that is open, inclusive, effective and represents the views and aspirations of the community it was set up to serve.
I see a future Council in which every member has an important role to play and you will be asked to do so, where every member has input into the operation of the Council, the decisions that are made and where members can air their views and you will be given those opportunities.
I see a future Tuggeranong Community Council as being an effective and truly independent organisation that will speak out on issues that impact on the Tuggeranong community without fear or favour.
I see a future Council being run by its members.
To this end, I will seek to share the workload and the responsibilities for the running of the Council.
With your help I will establish sub-committees of particular interest areas, sort of like portfolios, covering issues, for example, as planning, the environment, transport, youth and senior citizens needs.
I will ask each one of you to participate in one or more of the committees that interest you and to provide regular feedback to the Council.
As Council President I will work, on behalf of the Council, with other community groups in Tuggeranong and other community councils in Canberra.
I will also work, on behalf of the Council, with our local politicians and the government of the day.
I will gladly give our politicians credit when the Council believes credit is due and I will not be afraid to criticise them when the Council believes they are not working for the benefit of the Tuggeranong Community.
I look around this meeting and see many community minded people who I know have a great deal to contribute to the Council.
I extend an invitation to you, and to past members of the Council who have left for one reason or another, to join me in building on the Tuggeranong Community Council. There is a lot of work to be done.
To conclude, I wish to thank past Secretary, Albert Orszaczky and Treasurer, Eric Traise. I look forward to working with you both in the future.
I also wish to acknowledge the many years of service to the Tuggeranong Community given by Rosemary and David Lissimore.
To Rosemary and David, I sincerely wish you good health and happiness together for the future and I assure you the Council is in safe hands.”