Committee Members
Councillor Alan Pendleton, Chairman
After a long career with Blacktown City Council as an Environmental Health and Building Surveyor, Alan progressed to the position of Director of the Department. As Director he was responsible for waste planning and management, environmental planning and management,and was the Principal Building Surveyor for the approval of all building applications until he resigned in 1994.
Councillor Alan Pendleton was first elected to Council in 1995. Following his re-election to Council in 1999,Councillor Pendleton was elected Mayor of Blacktown City from 1999-2004. He is now serving his fourth term as a Councillor of the City in which he has lived for 49 years. In August 2009 he was again elected Mayor.
Councillor Pendleton has served on many and varied Committees representing Council such as WSROC, Hawkesbury Nepean Advisory Catchment Committee, Floodplain Management Authority, was the inaugural Chairman of the Western Sydney Waste Board and Chairman of Greater Western Sydney Economic Board.
He is currently the Chairman of Regional Development Australia, Sydney.
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Roy Medich OAM CLO JP, Deputy Chairman
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF MEDICH CORPORATION
Roy has extensive experience in property development. He has considerable first hand knowledge of various market sectors. Projects include retail, commercial, residential and industrial.
Roy, along with his son Anthony, established Medich Corporation, which currently holds a substantial portfolio of investments in Sydney, the Hunter Region and in Melbourne.
Roy has served on many community committees and his current commitments include:
- NSW State Government appointed member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Western Sydney and a member of the University’s Campus Development Committee and Foundation Board.
- Member of The Salvation Army Advisory Board for Greater Western Sydney.
- Member of the Urban Development Institute of Australia.
- Member of the Urban Taskforce of Australia.
- Member of the Penrith Valley Economic Development Board.
Les McMahon, Treasurer/Secretary
Les McMahon is the General Manager of Wollondilly Shire Council and has held that position for the last six years.
Prior to his appointment as General Manager Les has had experience as Director Operational Services at the City of Botany Bay Council; General Manager – Australia of SCS-Wetherill Environmental (SWE) and Environmental Engineering Consultancy with offices in Australia and New Zealand affiliated with SCS in America; General Manager of the Macarthur Waste Board a regional statutory authority responsible for minimising waste in the region, working in partnership with councils, industry, businesses and the community; Shire Engineer and later as the Director of Works with Wollondilly Shire Council; Chief Executive/Secretary of the Institute of Municipal Management (NSW Division) and the Local Government Clerks’ Association of NSW.
Les’s formal qualifications include a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and a Bachelor of Business (Local Government) and he has both a Local Government Engineers’ Certificate and a Local Government Clerk’s Certificate.
Les is also a member of various boards including Macarthur Group an organisation assisting young people to gain skills and employment via apprenticeships and traineeships and Macarthur Business Enterprise Centre, responsible for the delivery of support services to small business in the area of Macarthur and Liverpool.
Clr Aaron Rule, Committee Member
Councillor Aaron Rule has lived his entire life in Campbelltown.
Elected to Campbelltown City Council in 1999, he has held numerous positions on Committees and Sub Committees during his time as a Councillor.
Cr Rule was elected to the position of Mayor of Campbelltown City in September 2006, holding the position for two consecutive 12-month terms. He was again elected to Council in September 2009.
Jozefa Sobski, Committee Member
Jozefa Sobski has a Bachelor of Arts with Honours, a Diploma in Education and a Masters in Adult Education. After five years of high school teaching in south western Sydney, Ms Sobski joined the Ministry of Education. She spent five years in the Department of Technical and Further Education in policy administration and then became Principal of Meadowbank College of TAFE. In 1992, she was appointed Director of South Western Sydney institute of TAFE and then Deputy Director-General of Education and Training. She has been a member of the NSW Board of Studies and the TAFE Commission Board. She was a member of the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre for over ten years and GROW Sydney Area Consultative Committee for eleven years. She has held numerous positions on committees and boards during her period of public service. Most recently, she has been active in the community as Convenor of NSW Women’s Electoral Lobby. She is Chair of the Jessie Street National Women’s Library which is supported by the City of Sydney at Ultimo and she is on the Management Committee of NSW Rape Crisis Centre.
Ms Sobski has a special interest in improving access to all levels of education for various groups disenfranchised by their socio-economic circumstances, race, language background or disability. Skills and workforce development have been her particular professional interest as well as a commitment to improving access to services for all in the community. Ms Sobski is interested in marshalling the resources of community organizations and businesses to partner with government agencies to improve social and other infrastructure and community capacity and capability.
Marcus Testoni, Committee Member
Marcus Testoni has had a distinguished career in tourism, hospitality and events management working as general manager Gledswood Homestead a multi award winning tourist attraction. Marcus has studied tourism international and holding formal qualification in psychology, vocational education and an MBA.
He has also been active in tourism sector associations and orginisation including President of the Tourist Attractions Association, National chairman of Australian Travel and Tourism Review Panel, and board member of the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau. Marcus has also been a member of the GWSEDB and GROW Sydney Area Consultative Committee. He has always been an active member of the community and is proud to have been the charter president of the Rotary club of Narellan.
Since 2004 Marcus has changed his career becoming an educator. He is employed as a full time TAFE teacher at the Hills College in tourism and event management and is also in his spare time, employed part time by Southern Cross University at The Hotel School Sydney.
Mary Waterford, Committee Member
Mary Waterford is the Executive Officer of Western Sydney Community Forum, which builds strong, organised community organisations across Western Sydney. WSCF resources the sector with policy critique, training and regional development eg transport disadvantage www.wscf. org.au
Mary has worked extensively in the community sector in many capacities for over twenty years including neighbourhood centre management, women’s refuge evaluation, disability community projects and mental health cultural development projects. Her work has focused most recently on resourcing community organisations through the development of networks and collaborations, exploring the most effective ways to assist community agencies to make a difference to disadvantaged communities. Mary is a founding member of the Western Sydney Reconciliation Network; Voice for SONG (Voice for small organisations, non government) coalition, (raising the profile of the importance and value of small community organisations to healthy local communities) and Nepean Regional Task Force on Homelessness. She has also been a member of working parties such as the Blue Mountains GROW Committee, DoCS Community Services Grants Program Roundtable and the Stronger Families Planning Group. In her spare time she grows roses and helps to build capacity and leadership in Timor-Leste through the Blue Mountains East Timor Sisters project and Hato Builico Friendship Committee.