“I’ve heard from residents who remember the glory days… when Kaleen was well maintained, it was getting mown, footpaths fixed.” Dimitri Psihogios tells TIA PRIEST-WILLIMOTT he wants to make Kaleen and Giralang great again. 

Having logged more than 500 combined requests for Kaleen and Giralang, 26-year-old Dimitri Psihogios is no stranger to the lack of action to Fix My Street claims. 

A proud Kaleen resident and community advocate, Dimitri started campaigning for action after he noticed a lack of streetlights and an issue with the floodway in his suburb. 

“It started with the streetlighting, just at the back of the sports club in Kaleen,” said Dimitri.

“I was very cautious of the streets along the footpath and I was getting sick and tired of the floodway overflowing and seeing people walk with their torches. 

“I thought of the wellbeing of everyone around the area because it was a very scary little footpath… the footpath when it rained was actually getting flooded.” 

Dimitri started with a Fix My Street request, and waited one year to hear back, letting them have time to do “some adequate action”. 

But after the year had passed and nothing had happened, Dimitri decided enough was enough.

“It was no more Mr Nice Guy. It’s time to actually get these lights up and start adequate action. So, I called Fix My Street… and they were not aware of the case, even a year later.” 

Three years and 24 days later, more streetlights were installed and the floodway was fixed. 

This first case, and lack of action from the government, inspired Dimitri to start advocating for his suburb’s standards. 

“I’ve heard from residents who have lived in this suburb, some for over 20 years, who remember the glory days … when Kaleen was well maintained, it was getting mown, footpaths fixed,” Dimitri says. 

“They’ve had to see the decline of it and it’s a bit of potluck that I’ve come into this suburb at a time that it’s not getting the love or the TLC.” 

Last March, Dimitri dropped 500 flyers throughout Kaleen, informing locals of the good news – work had begun to build new streetlights near the floodway. 

This was the first of seven flyers he shared throughout the year, keeping locals informed of his actions and inviting them to contact him regarding issues in the suburb.

While he doesn’t mind being Kaleen’s advocate, Dimitri believes the government and local MLAs need to start doing more.

Kaleen is in the seat of Yerrabi and represented by Labor ministers Michael Pettersson and Suzanne Orr; Canberra Liberals, Leanne Castley and James Milligan; and ACT Greens member Andrew Braddock.

“I’ve raised a lot of constituent matters [with the government], whether it’s a footpath that hasn’t been fixed in a long time or the Kaleen community hall car park that hasn’t been fixed… I think the government’s response is somewhat poor,” Dimitri says.

“This coming ACT budget, this suburb needs a funding injection in the basics.”

Dimitri regularly reaches out to his local MLAs, asking for action, but feels let down by their responses. 

“I’m transparent, upfront, honest, and blunt. I’ve been that to them [the local MLAs] as well. If they can’t represent us, then rack off, get out, do not come back and give Kaleen residents their ratepayer money back.”

Since he’s started advocating for more upgrades, Dimitri has logged 234 Fix My Street requests for Kaleen, and more than 300 for Giralang. 

The majority of these requests are yet to be actioned. 

“I don’t call it Fix My Street, I call it ‘Ignore My Street’ or ‘Band-Aid Fix My Street’,” Dimitri says. 

White markings decorate the footpaths throughout the suburb – a sign that a representative has assessed the claim, and confirmed work needs to be done. 

However, many of these markings are fading away with no work completed. 

“The major problem is that Kaleen is forgotten, left behind and neglected,” Dimitri says. 

But Dimitri isn’t one to give up. 

In July, Kaleen received four weeks of footpath maintenance, with many locals commenting it was the biggest work they’d seen in years. 

This win for the suburb was further inspiration for Dimitri to keep pushing for change, despite the setbacks he’s faced.

“I’ve said to the people that I can’t guarantee that there will be action, I’m only advocating… but if there is no adequate action I will step in and I will follow through and I will try my absolute best to get an outcome.”

With an ever-growing list of streets that need attention, Dimitri isn’t slowing down on his mission to restore Kaleen to its glory days.

Will 2026 see Kaleen given the attention Dimitri is campaigning for?

Only time will tell.