Our CEO and Directors

---

The day-to-day operation of Jondaryan Shire Council is entrusted to our Chief Executive Officer and our three Directors.

Our CEO reports directly to the Mayor, to Council and to the community at large, while our Directors report to the CEO. Here's who they are:

Mr Noel P. Cass Chief Executive Officer

Noel Cass has been the Chief Executive Officer of Jondaryan Shire Council since April 1988. Except for a 3 year break (mostly taken up with National Service) he's pursued a career in local government throughout his working life. Noel started as a surveyor's assistant at Yeppoon at age 18 and progressed through the positions of Cost Clerk, Pay Clerk and Rates Clerk in Livingstone Shire and positions as Shire Clerk/CEO in Diamantina, Boulia, Booringa and Longreach Shires before taking up his present position. Noel and his wife Regan have four children and recently became first-time proud grandparents to little Rueben. Noel is a keen follower of sport and in his "spare time" operates a free-range piggery

Mr Gerard A. Kennett Director of Corporate Services

Gerard Kennett is our Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Director of Corporate Services. Gerard arrived at Jondaryan in 1997 from a position as Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Warwick. He began work as a consultant to Council but in October that year he was offered and happily accepted his present position. Gerard's career in local government is a long one. He started in 1967 at Booringa Shire Council as a cadet draftsman and then went on to hold Deputy Chief Executive Officer positions at Torres, Mackinlay and Isis Shire Councils. Then followed employment at Blackall Shire Council and Allora Shire Council as the Chief Executive Officer. During these years Gerard also found time to continue his tertiary studies. As Director of Corporate Services at Jondaryan, he heads up the Administration Department at Council. Gerard's spheres of supervision cover Accounts, Environmental Services, Information, Payroll, Rating, Purchasing, the Community Centre and the Library.

Mr Ian D. McHugh Director of Planning & Development

Ian McHugh came to Jondaryan Shire in May 1994 as Council's first full-time Planning Officer and progressed to his present position as Director of Planning and Development. He was born at Drillham near Miles in Queensland and pursued wheat farming with his father as a young man but later diversified as a small business owner when the rural outlook was grim. Ian came to his profession as a mature-age graduate from the University of New England's Faculty of Urban and Regional Planning. When he commenced, the Shire was experiencing a burst of expansion in rural residential and some industrial development on its eastern border. Over the ensuing ten years Ian has been intimately involved in some major planning initiatives. These included the gas-fired power station; expansion of Beef City and Oakey Meatworks; the expansion of the Oakey Army Base; the ongoing plans for the Charlton/Wellcamp Industrial area and the preparation of the Shire's new Planning Scheme which came into effect in early 2005.

Mr Chris P. Rubie Director of Engineering Services

Chris is our Director of Engineering Services and one of the longer serving Jondaryan Shire Council employees, having celebrated 30 years on the job in April 2004. Chris was raised in Chinchilla and came to Toowoomba as a young man to complete tertiary studies. His first job was as a cadet draftsman in the design office of the mechanical engineering department of the Toowoomba Foundry, and in 1974 he took up a similar position at Council working alongside the Shire Engineer - in those days there were only the two of them! Currently Chris (who became "the boss" 4 years ago) oversees a professional office staff of 5 and an outside staff of 46. Chris has seen the Shire through vast developmental changes from distinctly rural origins. Oakey was the only locality with a town water supply in the days when he joined Council and Chris has been involved in the design and construction of water supply infrastructure throughout the Shire as well as the ever-expanding road network. He continues to find his job challenging and satisfying. Chris lives 5 km south of Oakey on 100 acres with his wife. In his spare time, he indulges his love of farming by managing a poll dorset stud in partnership with his brother.