July 15th, 2026Just sayin’…

In this column, in the last edition, I wrote that Hepburn Shire Council CEO Bradley Thomas said the council was doing its best and just needed more time.
That was after the Community Satisfaction Survey came out saying the council’s overall performance score was the worst in 10 years.
I said I knew plenty of people who worked for council who were doing their best, but as a team it was not working. Mr Thomas, as the head of the organisation, needed to take the brunt of the complaints, I added.
So The Local came out in digital form on Sunday, and we sent the file off to the printer, and then on Monday I read that Mr Thomas had resigned.
Whoa. That was a surprise. For me, anyway.
It was only in November last year that Mr Thomas was reappointed for a further four-year term, with no advertisement up for his position.
That was a council call apparently.
Mr Thomas said at the time he was pleased with the “council’s confidence in the leadership of the organisation and excited about what we can achieve together in the next four years”.
Then he seemed to borrow some quotes from Hugh Grant playing the Prime Minister in Love Actually.
Hugh said: “We may be a small country, but we’re a great one too. Country of Shakespeare, Churchill, The Beatles, Sean Connery, Harry Potter, David Beckham’s right foot, David Beckham’s left foot, come to that.”
Mr Thomas was quoted as saying: “While we are a small council, we do great things.”
He never quite said what great things but probably not The Rex, or an indoor pool, or the toddler pools, or, no, I can’t go there just yet, I’ll get sued, or the outdoor dining permit stuff at the Royal Daylesford Hotel, or the Bleakley Street houses, or the Hepburn Depot, or the rail trail to Hanging Rock, or the…nah, that’s enough.
I wish Mr Thomas all the best in his next posting – although I have heard he might be throwing his hat into the ring for the state election.
(You all know what’s it like here. If you are not sure what you are up to, just ask the community. They usually know.)
Hopefully it is a position which pays well…
Under the 2025/2026 final budget documents on the council website, a male employed under executive services was to see his wage rise from $305,000 in 25/26 to $316,000 in 26/27 to $327,000 in 27/28 and then $339,000 in 28/29. I wouldn’t mind that salary. Must talk to Kyle…

Now, the above is a strange thing. Australia is getting a new alert system for nationwide and local emergencies. A test is being held on Monday, July 27 at 2pm in Victoria. Phones and devices will vibrate and play a siren-like warning sound for 10 seconds. An AusAlert message will appear and clearly say it is a test.
The test overrides the silent mode so if you don’t want to be part of it, or are still triggered by Covid alert sounds, you actually need to turn your phone off.
I am pretty switched on but I can’t find the reason for this new system – unless the aliens are actually landing and we need to find shelter. I saw this in a movie once. And what also worries me is the Presidential Alert on the website. I kid you not. I did not realise we had a president but then I didn’t know there was an Islamic State of Japan.
Mind you, with the Telstra outage last week, who knows if this will even work? Wishing everyone the best and hope to still be writing an editorial for July 27.
Just sayin’…