RIP: Paul Tosi was a ‘people person’ who loved Campbelltown

Paul Tosi loved Campbelltown, his family and a beer.

On the eve of his funeral at 11am today at St John’s Catholic Church, those who knew him best say that the man who was Campbelltown City Council general manager for 16 years between 1999 and 2015 certainly left his mark on the place he loved.

He was a real “people person’’ according to Cr Paul Lake, who was mayor during Paul Tosi’s last year in the big chair at council.

“Paul really knew how to work with people, to get the best out of them,’’ Cr Lake said this morning.

They didn’t know each other, but they grew up in neighbouring suburbs, Paul Tosi in Croydon Park and Paul Lake in Burwood, something that became a topic of conversation between them from time to time.

Paul Tosi, who was 70 when he passed away earlier this week, spent 33 years with Campbelltown Council.

He started working there as the property manager in 1982; he was a qualified valuer and had a diploma in town and country planning from Sydney University.

He left council for a short period to work in the private sector and returned in 1987 as the director of property, parks and recreation.

He remained in this post until he was appointed general manager in December 1999.

The position had become vacant following the untimely death of Ian Porter, who had the job for 12 years.

Paul and his wife Denise raised their three children, Michael, Belinda and Katrina in Campbelltown, including sending them to St Thomas More – the legendary school where so many families met each other and become lifelong friends.

There are now three grandchildren in the Tosi family, Luke, Conor and Sean.

Spending times with his grandchildren was one of Paul Tosi’s most satisfying activities after he retired from council.

At a lunch with him earlier this year with former mayor Paul Hawker and former council senior officer and mate Nicholas Smolonogov, all Paul Tosi talked about was his family and his grandchildren in particular.

Veteran councillor Meg Oates remembers meeting Paul Tosi when she was first elected in 1987 and he had just returned for his second stint in a senior role at Campbelltown Council.

“He wasn’t just a leader – he was also a friend,’’ recalled Cr Oates at council’s meeting on Tuesday night.

“Paul would spend time down at the depot with the guys, that’s the sort of person he was.

“He put Campbelltown on the map when he promoted it to other countries as a great place for them to be based in during the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

“He really put us on the map internationally,’’ Cr Oates said.

Mayor George Brticevic said “Campbelltown had lost one of its great advocates’’.

“In the 16 years Paul spent as general manager, he implemented significant change with an emphasis on long term strategic and financial planning, quality customer service, continuous improvement and innovation.

“He was a passionate and well respected member of the Campbelltown community and made an outstanding contribution to the city and its people.’’

Former mayor Jim Kremmer remembered Paul Tosi as someone who was always there to help and advise others.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“I mourn the passing of a great man,’’ Mr Kremmer wrote on social media.[/social_quote]

“I am honoured to call him a true friend to myself and, more importantly, to the great city that he served for so long and so well.

“I’ll miss you mate!’’

Jim Marsden, senior partner of the Marsdens Law Group, described Paul Tosi as “my good friend, Paul Tosi’’ in a note to staff after news that Mr Tosi had passed away.

“It is a sad day for Campbelltown,’’ Mr Marsden said.

Former state member for Macquarie Fields and councillor Steven Chaytor, who lives and works in Indonesia, said it was “incredibly sad to hear of the passing of Campbelltown’s finest’’.

“Paul Tosi’s passing is a great loss, and his service to Campbelltown a great contribution,’’ Mr Chaytor wrote on social media.

“Paul inherited a city where quantity was everything, and left it as one where quality was paramount.

“Paul was a mentor to most, and it is this role which will ensure his legacy to Campbelltown and to the wider spheres of local government continue,’’ Mr Chaytor said.

At his farewell in 2015 Paul Tosi was hailed as the most influential member of the south west region for the past 15 years.

Campbelltown becoming a regional city and winning funding for local infrastructure and facilities were all achievements that would not have been possible without the drive and passion of the council general manager since 2000, the guests at his farewell were told.

Former NSW planning minister Craig Knowles, said Mr Tosi could have had just about any job he wanted and Campbelltown was fortunate that he had opted to stay local and work for improvements in his own town.

At the same function, Cr Lake said he had seen first hand how hard the departing general manager had worked to make Campbelltown a better place.

“I’d ring him up of a morning and I’d say, where are you, and Paul would say, on the way into Sydney to see Minister X.

“The same day, I’d ring in the afternoon and he’d say he was on his way to Sydney to see Minister Y.

“He was that passionate about helping to make Campbelltown a better place.’’