When Wollongong City councillor Janice Kershaw was elected for the first time back in 1991 it was a very different world.
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"I had a phone-fax answering machine - that was my technology," Cr Kershaw said.
"We used to get every single thing in paper so we'd get our business papers in lever arch folders. All the mail from the residents and reports would be delivered in something like a Dominos Pizza bag every Friday.
"Now all of our reports, correspondence and everything is electronic."
At Monday's council meeting Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery put forward a motion acknowledging her quarter-century of service.
That milestone was reached in March last year, but COVID restrictions delayed the formal recognition until councillors returned to the chamber.
"We congratulate Cr Kershaw on this outstanding achievement and acknowledge her family who have supported Cr Kershaw to fulfil her role as a councillor over this time," Cr Bradbery's motion read.
Cr Kershaw entered council on Lord Mayor David Campbell's ticket.
Born and bred in Bellambi she had been involved in a lot of community groups so a stint on council was a logical step.
"I've always been the type of person who's wanted to help others and I've always been the type of person who isn't backward in coming forward," she said.
"When I was thinking about it I went to a couple of council meetings and I thought 'I can do this'. David Campbell was looking for someone to run with him on his ticket and asked me and I said 'yeah, that would be great'."
The 25-year mark would have come around sooner were it not for the ICAC scandal that saw the council sacked - a time Cr Kershaw called "devastating".
She said more than a decade later residents will still bring that time up when they want to criticise council.
Many residents also had a misunderstanding of the life of a councillor - that they don't pay rates, or that they get a car or other perks.
"People ring and say 'can I meet you at your office?' and I go 'well, you can come and sit in my lounge room'."
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
