I am proud to receive the medallion for my service from 2016 to 2020. I am honoured to serve the residents of Wyndham as Harrison Ward councillor and Chair of Smart City Portfolio for the past four years.

As one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Australia, Wyndham's population surpassed Geelong in 2018. It was a challenging four years; however, we worked hard and achieved many amazing outcomes.

Being a councillor and working full-time at the same time is never easy. There are days of early morning and late-night meetings. Moreover, I had committed almost every Saturday morning to meet residents to discuss their concerns. I know many works still need to be done. Moreover, it is very fulfilling when I see every effort made impacts and contributed to amazing outcomes.  

I committed to working hard on better local education, more local jobs and better local economy, more public facilities and services to meet the growing community's needs, improving transport, community safety, and council's efficiency. I kept my promises, and I can say we had improvements in all these fields.  

People were asking me why I was doing all those community works since the first year we moved to Wyndham back in 2012. I told almost everyone that it would be difficult to have a good community if we only focused on our own family. No matter how good our own family is. If the local community is suffering, we will not be much better.

I know many of our newly settled families were struggling, working very hard to support their young family, but on the other hand, not getting some of the most basic services and facilities. We must work smarter and operate more efficiently to deliver the basic needs of our residents. This is one of the main reasons I decided to stand for council and initiated one of the first Smart City portfolios in local government back in 2016.

One of the Smart City portfolio goals is to help the council gather basic information and data so we can start evidence-based decision making. Some great projects include the Smart Parks and Places, Smart BBQ, Smart Sports AI, Smart Parking, and the installation of cameras at key locations (such as Point Cook Rd and Sneydes Rd intersection) to do vision AI data analysis, so we can gather the evidence to prove to the state government the need of the local community.

Our CityLens project won the prestigious National Award for Excellence in Local Government back in 2017, and we had completed Wyndham's first-ever award-winning Smart City Strategy and Implementation Plan. These are amazing achievements.

I was one of the first in the community to use data to prove the lack of schools in growing areas of Wyndham. Sadly, I know many young families moved out due to this reason. The young generations are the future, and we must work hard for them. I feel proud of the Schools4Wyndham campaign, which I reckon is one of the best evidence-based advocacy campaigns we ever had.

Some other great achievements including the relocation of the Youth Detention Centre, the successful bid of the Western United A-league licence, and the soon to be constructed Wyndham City stadium. These are great outcomes based on mutual understanding, mutual respect, collaboration, and team spirit.

Furthermore, many other great achievements not to mention. We would have achieved more if not because of the COVID-19. I want to use this opportunity to thank all the 2016-2020 councillors and our CEO Kelly Grigsby, Senior Executive Leadership Team, and everyone I had directly or indirectly worked with.

Although I am not on the council anymore, I am still here to help and happy to contribute my knowledge and experience in all levels of government and the professional commercial sector. However, of course, I am always here, open to honest and legitimate discussions and collaborations.

Finally, I believe the west will be better and better. Thank you, and go west.

Presentation of Medallions - Wyndham City

Dear Aaron,

On behalf of Wyndham City Council and the Wyndham community, it is our pleasure to present you with this letter of appreciation under the Seal of Council as a record of your contribution to Wyndham throughout your time on Council.

From 2016 to 2020 you have served your community with a great level of dedication, always progressing the issues that matter to the people of Williams Landing and the broader Harrison Ward.

As the Smart City Portfolio Holder, you were particularly focussed on pioneering new technology and ideas which have been recognised across the sector for their innovation and excellence.

You should be especially proud of the Wyndham Smart City Strategy 2019-2024 and Implementation Plan, Werribee CBD smart parking, Smart Places and Spaces, City-wide loT network installation, Smart Sports planning monitoring and management, and traffic intersection monitoring using AI Analytics.

Under your guidance, Wyndham's innovative agenda was recognised at a Federal level, as one of the only Cities to secure funding through both rounds of the Smart Cities and Suburbs Program. This funding has enabled Council to pursue sector-leading technology such as the augmented reality application CityLens and the computer vision technology underpinning the Smart Sports project.

With many challenges and opportunities facing Wyndham in the future, your contribution to making our municipality smarter and more innovative will leave a legacy for generations to come.

Thank you for your contribution to the Wyndham community and for your service and dedication to improving the quality of life for all Wyndham residents.

The Common Seal of Wyndham City as affixed by authority of Council on this day, 8 December 2020, in the presence of:

Mayor

Chief Executive