Craig Lloyd has had a 15-month dream run as Chief Executive Officer of Murrindindi Shire Council. It is the type of political honeymoon that other local government leaders dream about.

Craig Lloyd led Councillors to a 180-degree turnaround for Shire affairs, especially in matters of perception and presentation, from the “bad old days” in the time of former CEO Margaret Abbey.

Her socially-awkward era saw the municipality’s community satisfaction rating plummet to 46 per cent (and before that, 36 per cent), well below that of similar and other councils in Victoria.

Only 45 per cent of the population was satisfied with Council decisions in Murrindindi, according to the ‘Know Your Council’ survey run by the Victorian State Government.

Craig Lloyd, fresh from the City of Greater Bendigo where he was Director of Presentation and Assets, joined the Murrindindi Council in January 2018. One of his first tasks was to take a lead role, as the public face of the Council. He has enjoyed the goodwill of the media to achieve this.

Mr Lloyd is internet savvy. He is personable, with a level head. He has been pro-active on a number of local issues. He keeps an active eye on social media, and is usually quick to respond to the needs troubled residents.

Of late, things seemed to have changed. Perhaps that change is because some of his work colleagues may not have had the ability, or desire, to change from Council’s old ways.

At the February 27 Council meeting, Councillors were advised that instead of delivering a balanced budget, the Shire is likely to deliver a half-million dollar loss for the 2018-19 financial year.

This has largely gone unnoticed in a community which has been used to consistent projections of half-million dollar deficits (and more) over a number of years. A number of capital works projects continue to be delayed. For example, works at the Yea Shire Hall keep on being postponed, year after year, to help balance the books.

Then came the Council’s release of its parameters for its advertising services panel. The Council had failed to open its advertising to tender for more than six years. The new document is a clumsy one, which ostensibly favours one media company. There is deliberate wording in the tender guidelines to favour one company (not us), and disadvantage others (including us). Sad old, bad old ways linger on.

Rather than bettering liaison with local media operators, the move has fractured important relationships. A backward step.

Next came a public relations disaster which was wholly avoidable. For six years, food vans have operated at the vacant land site where the Glenburn Hotel once stood.

It is off-road, safe and popular. Council Planning Officer Karen Girvan wrote a letter to the food van operators advising them to cease trading, almost immediately. The Council approach could have been a deliberate one to work co-operatively with the operators, but Ms Girvan chose the official old-fashioned approach. If Mr Lloyd’s personable approach had been to the fore, the public disaster would not have happened.

Instead, the move has angered more than 500 local people, who have already signed a change.org petition in just over 24 hours. The public anger was magnified when Council Director, Stuart McConnell, issued a clumsy media release today (Thurs.), that simply poured petrol on the sensitive issue, including the livelihood of a popular local family.

Mr McConnell spoke of the need for road safety at the Glenburn Hotel site. If road safety is suddenly an issue, the Council should have nipped food vans in the bud, six years ago. His statement only demonstrates that it is the Council that has been asleep at the wheel for years.

It appears that senior Council staff are not all singing from the same song book. Our insiders at Council tell us that, now more than ever, some staffers are keen to assert their individual authority. Little kingdoms in dear old Murrindindi. Has the notion of service to the public, rather than power, been forgotten?

Perhaps it is time for Craig Lloyd to grab the wheel again, and assert his authority as Chief Executive Officer of Murrindindi Shire Council, to put matters right. He has a number of public relations disasters on his hands, which need immediate repair. If he allows matters to continue on their current course, the Council has taken a time machine ride to the days of Margaret Abbey. All the advances will have been worth nothing.

• Comment by Local Paper Editor, Ash Long