It's always the way around these parts. You rise to the top of municipal government by having a network of contacts built up over the years, and being a longstanding member of the community, whose parents and grandparents were also known locally. Which means that not only do you hand out the contracts, but your family owns plenty of the fields that will be rezoned and sold for development. The sports tourism thing is a good idea. The wave pool is jumping the shark. Not literally, I presume, though that would add an extra Bondi Beach frisson to the experience!