Husband Kurt is her biggest fan and is still amazed by her dedication to her family and community.
“I don’t know how she gets it all done,” he says of her heavy workload as mum, worker and volunteer.
Jaime is best known as an elected WTA member and perhaps as the “ice cream truck lady”.
What many may not know is that she has lived in Weipa since she was two and works around the clock to make her town a better place to live.
Jaime helped revive Western Cape Landcare, spends hours serving the Weipa pottery club and is working on tourism opportunities for the Chamber of Commerce.
She juggles these roles as a mother of two daughters and helps run the family business, Far North Fishing.
“The fishing business is my passion and my dream,” Kurt said.
“But Jaime ends up doing more than 50 per cent of the work in the background. She gets a buzz out of the tourism and visitors to Weipa.”
Weipa Town Authority chairman Michael Rowland believes Jaime is on the right path to be his successor at the next local government election.
“She really brings a passion to the WTA and has a perspective that we haven’t had before,” he said.
“She has a young family and brings a whole dynamic that was missing and was needed.
“What I like most is that she never backs away from a challenge and she’s very honest about what she wants to achieve.”
The WTA members pushed for Jaime to be deputy chair at the first meeting of the new council, however she turned down the offer.
Having just been elected to public office for the first time, she said she wanted more experience in the role before taking on a leadership position.
“She doesn’t want to do anything until she knows she’s the right person for the job,” Kurt said.
“She wanted time up her sleeve because she wouldn’t want to let anyone down.”
Preserving the best qualities of Weipa life and enhancing the shortcomings of the community are what drives Jaime each day, Kurt said.
“We know what Weipa was like when we were kids. It has changed in many ways, but in some ways it hasn’t changed much at all,” he said.
“Jaime just wants what is best for the community. All the stuff she does is not for self gain.”
