Having served three years in office as a councillor and deputy mayor, Alison Worthington is preparing to pass the baton at this year's council elections.
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Meticulous, prepared, attentive and engaged, the Eurobodalla Shire Greens councillor is someone "who turns up".
Having spent 17 years living on Bruny Island prior to landing in Moruya a decade ago, Alison was accustomed to living in a small community.
She had been involved with social enterprise and activism for many years.
Alison did not consider herself a potential politician but when she was asked to run three years ago, her concern for climate inaction prompted her to say yes.
"My activism had been around climate," she said.
"Particularly at a federal level, I along with a great many other Australians, found myself in deep, deep disappointment post the 2019 federal election, that we understood was the climate election and we were going to see a shift.
"The disappointment from that taught me to...focus locally, to do what you can where you are with what you have."
Alison said her move into politics was surprising on a number of levels.
Firstly, that she was asked to run, but also once she had entered, the "glacial pace" of change was eye-opening.
"Some of the social change measures are slow-burners and don't happen overnight," she said.
"But within local government, I thought being smaller than state and federal, I thought there could be a quicker turnaround on things
"But actually seeing the level and degree of accountability in local government, which I admire, I now understand, actually means the cogs turn over pretty slowly."
Alison dedicated up to 30 hours a week to her role, necessary she thought to ensure she lived up to the job.
"It was important for me to feel across it, therefore I would put in the work, read what is given to me, look a bit further and I'm lucky to be connected into lots of other councils through the Greens Councillor Network," Alison said.
"If a council isn't looking up and saying 'what are other councils doing in similar situations' they are missing out on a huge resource."
Alison said although not standing again come September 2024, she will be on hand to guide and assist should any of the Greens candidates be successful, as former Greens councillor Pat McGinley had done for her.
Her legacy, she believed, was how she had conducted herself.
"Being available, being responsive to correspondence, turning up, showing up," Alison said.
"Connecting to so many diverse groups - it's been a ride and I have loved the places I have been invited into.
"The groups that I've met that I didn't know exist.
"The passions and interests out there in the Eurobodalla community - it has been a real privilege to be welcomed into so many groups and their work."
Local government elections across NSW have been scheduled to take place Saturday, September 14.
The Eurobodalla Greens have announced a team that will run under the slogan "Happy Healthy and Housed', pushing affordable housing to the forefront of their campaign.
Colleen Turner will lead the campaign alongside Joslyn van der Moolen, Charlie Bell, and Niall O'Donnell.
For more information about the election, including an Information session for potential candidates, visit www.esc.nsw.gov.au/council/councillors/elections.
