After the battering that Wollongong's reputation has taken as a result of the Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation, it's time for the city to dust itself off and move forward.
At least that was the consensus among city leaders last week in the aftermath of ICAC's report being handed down. It told of unprecedented corruption in a public sector organisation, spanning five levels of council.
The report made 24 corrupt conduct findings involving 10 people - council staff, developers and councillors - and recommended 139 criminal charges be considered against eight of those, plus three other people.
But how does the council clean up its act and maintain high standards to prevent another scandal without scaring off developers who are inevitably needed to take the city into the future?
ICAC's recommendations for reform are a start, but there are simple strategies the council says it has put in place to maintain professional relationships.
Others say the whole model of local government needs to change because part-time councillors without specialist skills cannot continue to manage multimillion-dollar budgets in a sophisticated organisation like a city council.
The Illawarra Mercury approached a range of leaders to find out where to now for Wollongong.
Senior fellow at the University of Wollongong law faculty
Gerry Holmes says there are many lessons for Wollongong City Council to learn from its recent experience.
The first is the issue of caucusing - where councillors meet before a council meeting and decide which way they are all going to vote on a particular issue or planning decision.
"This was an issue at Shellharbour too," Mr Holmes said.
The model of local government was also becoming increasingly unsustainable, he said.
"You are asking part-time people, often from non-professional backgrounds, to manage multimillion-dollar budgets," he said.
"A lot don't have the skills to do that.
"Wollongong City Council is a sophisticated organisation.
"Councils are having difficulty identifying and recruiting that level of skill (in councillors)."
Mr Holmes said there are three lines of defence against corruption which failed at Wollongong due to complacency.
"You have got to recognise that any public official can be approached," he said.
"If a person thinks it can't happen to them, their strongest line of defence is dying."
He said each individual's own value system and an organisation's culture combined with recognition that anyone can be approached, are needed to form a defence against corrupt behaviour.
"At Wollongong, there was a collapse of all three lines of defence," he said.
An on-going stigma will not be attached to Wollongong City Council, Mr Holmes said, and the new administration was moving the council in the right direction.
"(General manager) David Farmer has been a refreshing change and should have been in place a long time ago," he said.
More stories in Monday's Mercury
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