In an interview with The North West Star on Monday, May 16, Cr Slade said she was proud of the progress made so far, but there was still plenty of work to be done.

"There are definitely more lows than highs with this role and even though I'm Mayor, I'm only one vote in seven, so a lot of the time, it's tough going. One of the platforms I ran on was being clear, transparent and more community engagement and I really hope that residents feel that has improved," Cr Slade said.

"I feel like I've spent my whole life trying to find my voice and now I'm at the age where I've found it. Being Mayor in some aspects has made me lose my voice which is hard because I like to call it how it is, and I won't lie for anyone and keeping quiet on some issues has really been a struggle.

"I have a lot of uncomfortable moments, but I'm mindful this is an amazing opportunity do great things for my community and there is no doubt that I have the eye of the tiger when it comes to Mount Isa, my family, friends and community."

Cr Slade said she was disappointed with how some funds were being spent through the council.

"I was disappointed to say the least, that my council put up a motion at the LGAQ Conference saying we had spent $200,000 in the last 12 months on councillor investigations, then to find out that we had zero dollar spend in the last four years, and then to again have council provide incorrect statistics to a parliamentary inquiry on the same issue.

"There are also items like, council has applied to AFL Qld for a 50/50 grant for $150,000 for AFL Mount Isa. If we get the resource funding, that will be the other $150,000 match, but if we don't get the resource funding, council has put a $150,000 in the budget to match it for ALF Mount Isa.

"I personally just want to see this go through an ordinary meeting as a motion that we can vote on as a council, not put in the quarterly budget report and then have to vote on that quarterly budget. If council is going to support this, that's fine, but let's make sure it's clear and transparent. If you look at the budget package we've put up for the public's review, you won't see it in there. It's not how we should be operating."

Cr Slade said being mayor wasn't all "doom and gloom" having had success with local projects and initiatives.

"We have some amazing staff at council and they have done a magnificent job with the Gallipoli Pump Track and Ninja Obstacle Course, it's been a tremendous success and it's proved that the community are desperate for more family friendly infrastructure in our city," she said.

"The extra shade and seating at Splashez is fantastic and the update to the skate park which is still ongoing is already a hit. We are also chasing funding for a small water play equipment for Mini Davis Park in pioneer.

"Council giving out free native trees to the community has been well received and the new safety signage that is going on roads around schools is a wonderful initiative. Council also did an amazing job through COVID, collaborating with state and federal departments and different agencies, trying to support where we could and when the mandate came in, council even put our IT guys in the library to help people set up the Qld Check In App on their phones and showed them how to access their vaccination certificates through MyGov. Council has also put on and supported some wonderful events in the last two years, under some extremely challenging circumstances with COVID and the often changing rules.

"We have also made some great headway in Camooweal, we've engaged with the community and we are restoring the old Camooweal Hall and we're putting in more family friendly infrastructure including multi-purpose goals, a half basketball / netball court and modular skate park equipment and we're currently seeking funding for water play equipment."

Stating she has more work to do, Cr Slade said she would contest next election and strive to leave a legacy of long term savings.

"Yes I will recontest next election, I feel there is a lot more work to be done that extends beyond one term," she said

"There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that no-one will every see, updating and maintaining existing infrastructure. This is critical and it's often costly. When I first became Mayor Mount Isa was losing about 36 per cent of it's water, literally millions of dollars going down the creek. I believe that every council accepts about a 10 to 12 per cent lose of water, and to-date council has probably addressed 6-8 per cent of that loss and we will continue to address the problem. Council is hoping that the new smart meters may help identify more losses and the meters are getting rolled out as we speak.

"Residents will be happy to know that I've requested the CEO to bring a report to council offering a choice of two part tariff or water allocation. This will obviously need to get the support of the majority of councillors, but it was important that the smart meter roll out had commenced, because the smart meters will make it easy for council to offer this choice now, as the previous water meters and technology would have proven more difficult.

"The Whitsundays council have implemented a choice on how you pay for water, with tremendous success and residents can go on their council website and use a calculator, which is a simple process of inputting your water usage from the previous year and it will calculate which choice saves you the most money, how fantastic is that."

Cr Slade thanked the community for its ongoing support.

"I'm also blown away by the volunteers who just come along and help council out, from MC's, to musical acts, musicians, it's just really amazing to see how much council gets supported from the Mount Isa community.

"I'd like to thank the Mount Isa community for giving me this opportunity, and as much as it's often unpleasant, I love knowing that I'm making a difference and working hard to make a bright future for us all in Mount Isa and that keeps me strong and inspired."

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