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Heather Jameson meets the chief executive of a strategically-important Essex district. Chief executive of Basildon DC, Bala Mahendran, describes his life as a journey – and it is, perhaps, one which has taken him on several detours along the way. Born in Sri Lanka, he arrived in the UK in 1975 with ‘good intentions' of getting a career in engineering before returning home. But, halfway through his mechanical engineering degree, things changed. Bala was on a work placement when he lost part of his hand in an industrial accident. He then had to re-learn how to write with his left hand. Three years and 18 operations later, his plans to return to Sri Lanka with a mechanical engineering career looked less clear-cut. Then there was the prospect of qualifying as an engineer in the middle of Thatcher's Britain. There was a recession in the manufacturing industry, and he was an engineer with dexterity difficulties. ‘Adversity sometimes brings out the best in people,' he says, with characteristic positivity. And he claims it was the support of his family and friends which helped him through the difficult times. He took a job as a Lambeth housing officer, and has been on a ‘roller coaster ride' in local government ever since. From there, Bala went to Haringey LBC to work in housing, corporate planning and policy. Then, as now, Haringey was in turmoil, and at the heart of a media furore. The adverse publicity followed the notorious Broadwater Farm riots. He describes that time in his career as a ‘steep learning curve', but one he enjoyed. Perhaps it is no surprise that in his next post he opted for ‘a quiet life in the sticks', as a housing assistant, then head of housing, at Braintree DC. He became part of an international learning network, and spent two years travelling. He jokes: ‘I never thought I was going to Braintree to travel.' When the role of executive director of Basildon came up, Bala jumped at the chance. It has the second-largest housing stock in the eastern region, and is ‘at the heart of the Thames Gateway'. He says: ‘It's not a unitary, but it has some of the characteristics of a unitary – and it is larger than some of the smaller London boroughs.' Eighteen months in, the sitting chief executive announced he was going to retire, and Bala decided to go for the top job. He took the role on four-and-a-half years ago – and 18 years to the day from when he first joined local government. Bala says he is ‘proud and privileged' to be a chief executive, and particularly proud to be chief executive of Basildon. The town has a selection of advantages which he lists. Its proximity to London and to the Thames Gateway; it is on the A127 – the economic corridor which connects Essex with the capital and is home to several businesses; and Basildon is just seven miles from a major port – ‘it's within Thurrock's border, but I just ignore that,' he laughs. The position, Bala claims, makes Basildon an ideal business location, and ripe for regeneration – even though the town is still only 60 years old. The council, which was rated ‘fair' about four years ago, has had to find a way to drive improvements. The members have given clarity to three main objectives of regeneration, community and environmental issues. He has driven up the service in benefits, opened a new customer service centre, built relationships with external partners, and driven forward culture change. Bala is now ‘aggressively looking to take on' services on behalf of other authorities. ‘We may have a public sector ethos, but that doesn't mean we can't be entrepreneurial,' he says. ‘It's attitude that got me where I am now. There are people who are brighter...' or, in the case of his first local government job in Lambeth, which he entered without having worked in the sector before, there are people who could offer more experience. But it is attitude he looks for in his own staff. As an Asian man, his approach has helped a lot. He tells The MJ: ‘I was watching Puff Daddy [hip-hop impresario] on the night of the US presidential election. I was very sad by what I heard. ‘He said that when he was a child, he was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. He said, "I wanted to say president, but I knew it sounded silly for a black man to be president." Now his son can say he wants to be president.' It is Barak Obama's legacy. Bala says he wants his legacy to be that he opened doors for people – that he encouraged his staff to move up, and allowed them to achieve great things. And while he returns to Sri Lanka each year for holidays, it doesn't seem that the plan to return for good will ever come to fruition. With a wife and two sons – one at university and the other doing A-levels – along with his other family and friends, he says Britain is his home now. It appears he is a Basildon boy.

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WHITEHALL

Bala's Basildon bond

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