The late Alby Schultz was a well-loved and respected civic leader.

Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Councillor, Gil Kelly has a special Notice of Motion for the next Council meeting.

Cr Gil Kelly wants to see the recently completed Cootamundra council meeting room named after the late Alby Schultz.

At the next ordinary meeting of Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council on May 22, Cr Kelly is set to put forward a motion that, if passed, will see the Cooper Street meeting room formally re-named “The Alby Schultz Meeting Centre”.

Mr Schultz is fondly remembered in both Cootamundra and Gundagai as a greatly respected politician, and a driven and compassionate leader while serving the areas as Member for Burrinjuck from 1988 until 1998.

Cr Kelly and Mr Schultz first met up when Cr Kelly was 12 years old. Looking for some extra pocket money, a young Gil was handed the job of mowing Mr Schultz’s lawn. It wasn’t until Cr Kelly got older that he became aware of what Mr Schultz did in the community.

“Alby would have been the most hard working person to come out of Cootamundra, and his wife Gloria did an enormous amount of work behind the scenes as well,” Cr Kelly said.

“By me wanting to name the rooms after Alby, it in no way diminishes the work that Gloria did. She helped Alby across all three tiers of government. Only this week did I see her selling raffle tickets down the street in front of IGA for the CWA in cold weather.”

Mr Schultz was a long-time resident of Cootamundra and a former Cootamundra Shire Councillor.

After his role as State Member for Burrinjuck, he moved into Federal politics and was elected to the seat of Hume until his retirement due to illness in 2013.

Mr Schultz sadly passed away from cancer, aged 76, in 2015.

“It didn’t matter what side of politics you stood on, Alby had the community’s respect. He was a loyal servant to our town,” Cr Kelly said.

“Whenever Alby made a decision he put a lot of thought into it and made that decision in the best interests of the community.”

Cr Kelly said the response received on social media to the motion has already been very positive.

“I think the community at large would be happy to support this,” he said.

Cr Kelly is enjoying his role on the council and is very appreciative of the help and support of fellow councillors and council staff, but conceded he has a lot to learn in regards to the processes involved.

At 45 years of age, it has been a long time since Cr Kelly mowed Mr Schultz’s lawn, however it is undeniable the mark that Mr Schultz made on both Cr Kelly  and the community.