When Ray Tame first started working at the City of Armadale in an engineering role in 1995, the region was very different to how it appears today.
Three years into his journey with the City of Armadale he jumped at the chance to sit in the front seat as chief executive and it is a decision he has never regretted.
“There was so much I could see that could be done so I put my hand up,” he said.
“I am very pleased council appointed me because from then on we have really made some progress.”
Mr Tame looked back at the early 1990s as a time when there was a cringe factor about the Armadale community.
“We had been beaten up pretty badly and there were other parts of the metropolitan area that would look down their nose at us,” he said.
“We started here with the organisation and got the staff here to believe in Armadale and then we started marketing that to the community to get them to believe in it too.”
Mr Tame recounted his career highlights including the Champion Lakes Regatta Centre, Orchard House and, more recently, the unveiling of the new Armadale Fitness and Aquatic Centre, just to name a few.
Exiting the seat as chief executive as of June 28, Mr Tame said he would look on from afar as the city continues to grow and become a bustling city centre against the backdrop of hills residences.
“Metronet coming to town and extending the rail line to Byford will probably be the biggest game changer of them all,” he said.
“It will become a hub and not just a terminus and people will start coming from different directions.
“I will come back and sit in the middle of town and have a coffee in ten years time and that’s when I will really feel good about the things that we have done.”
Mr Tame was awarded the Institute of Public Administration Australia WA’s leader of the year working in local government award at a luncheon last week.
