Local mayors like to say they are their city's proudest resident - but in the case of Pam Parker, it'd be hard to disagree.
Logan's mayor of seven years is set to retire in 2016, bringing to a close a 19-year career in local politics.
"I've calculated the hours, it's more like 44 to 46 years of work in that period of time. When you give it your all the way I do - I work 80 to 100 hours a week - and when you can't give it that kind of commitment, you know its time to take a break," she says.
Lifting the city's image was a key reason Parker initially ran for council in the 1990s. One thing that has always riled her are the snide remarks or jokes made at Logan's expense, and until the "bogan" remarks stop, it'll be a chip on the shoulder Parker seemingly will never get over.
"Logan is an amazing city and those sort of comments only come out of the mouths of the ignorant," Parker says, bluntly.
Campbell Newman felt Parker's fury last year and was forced to go into damage control when he allegedly called Logan residents "bogans" in parliament. A furious Parker demanded an apology but it never came, because Newman claimed he had been misquoted. Hansard was eventually corrected.
But while Parker has publicly fought for her city, she's also nurtured it. Early in her political career she was almost run off her feet with food runs, making sure families had blankets and organising and clothing appeals.
In 2011, Parker comforted the grieving families of 11 people who were killed in an horrific house fire at Slacks Creek, describing it as "the saddest day in Logan's history".
When racial tensions boiled over two years later, she championed the "Logan: City of Choice" initiative to re-unite the community and improve employment, housing, safety and education.
Youth unemployment remains a key challenge for Logan, but Parker is confident that the program will improve things.
"Sometimes you have to go through adversity to bring about change and have a brighter future and I am really optimistic about this program," she says.
A marker of Parker's popularity in the city is her performances at the polls. In 2008, she picked up 56 per cent of the mayoral vote against five other candidates. In 2012, nobody ran against her.
Fellow mayors from Brisbane and the Gold Coast were also full of praise, with both Graham Quirk and Tom Tate saying they'll miss dealing with Parker at regional mayors meetings.
As for the future post-2016? Parker will stick around until March's council elections and will then take time off to "smell the roses" and spend time with her family.
She isn't sure what she'll do next, and while not completely ruling out a tilt at federal politics, it'd seem unlikely she'd be interested in joining a major party anyway.
"The Liberal Party think I'm Labor. The Labor Party think I'm Liberal. But I belong to the Logan Party - the people's party," she says.
"I'm most proud of nurturing that community spirit and getting the people in Logan to believe in themselves. Logan is the heart of Southeast Queensland with a community spirit second to none and they like to hear that they are special."
"I'd like them to remember me as the people's mayor - a person who was passionate about creating a bright future for all residents of Logan. I'd like them to say 'She really cared about us'".
