AFTER more than two decades, the councillor’s office for Ward 8 has found a new home.
Instead of the route to Dijon Road, where the office was situated for the past 21 years, residents can now make their way to Stephanie Place 3, Lorraine, where the ward councillor’s office is now situated, behind the German Club.
Ward Councillor, Gustav Rautenbach, said that space was becoming too tight at the previous office and, since the landlord did not renew his tender, it was time to find a new place.
“In the previous office, the boardroom was in the general office area, so there was no privacy for us to conduct ward committee meetings. We also have thousands of files and documents and there just wasn’t sufficient space to store them anymore,” he explained.
Rautenbach added that another important reason for the move was the fact that more privacy was needed, especially when it came to residents visiting his office to conduct confidential business.
“Although I had my own office at the previous premises, if you spoke loud enough, someone in the general area, where members of the public come in and wait to see the councillor, can hear what you are saying. The privacy of my residents is of utmost importance because when they come to see me, they are putting their trust in me and expect things to remain private,” he said. “It took approximately a year for us to get a new place.
“When I looked at the place, I immediately fell in love. I inspected the place and found that it would be very effective premises from which to serve the community.”
The new office can accommodate more residents, has a private boardroom for ward committee and other meetings to take place without interruptions and Rautenbach’s office is at the back, away from the general office area, leading to absolute privacy for residents wanting to discuss confidential issues. The office telephone number and email address have also remained the same.
“I have requested the municipality to erect signs at this premises to direct residents to my office,” Rautenbach said.
