Geoff Dobson was first elected as councillor in Greater Shepparton over 15 years ago.
“I topped the poll in 2008 out of all the candidates,” Geoff said.
“At the first meeting, I was elected deputy mayor and that year, then-mayor Chris Hazelman’s doctor advised him to give away the mayor’s job so he suggested that I apply or put my hand up for the job.
“So after two weeks as a councillor, I became mayor, and I stayed in that position as mayor from 2008 and then in 2012, I was just a councillor.”
Geoff said that when he first ran for council, he wanted to bring about change in the town.
“I thought there was some dissatisfaction with some of the council with what was going on and being I’ve lived in Shepparton all my life I really want Shepparton to prosper,” he said.
“I really see the council as the bringing together of the community to ensure that that prosperity is maximised wherever possible, if that makes sense.
“I just didn’t think that things were gelling correctly and could I make a difference.”
Following his four-year run, he kept up with community involvement, being involved in various boards and committees.
“After I got off council, I was on the board of Goulburn Valley Water for three years, I was on the board of Shepparton Retirement Villages for six years, I was on the board of the Yorta Yorta Traditional Owners land management board for six years as well,” Geoff said.
“Then, in 2020, for whatever reason, I decided that I would like to have another go.”
His candidacy wasn’t in vain, ending up seventh in the poll, and he’s been a councillor ever since and “loved every minute of it”.
He said that one of the struggles was the 2020-22 period, which included COVID-19 lockdowns and the October 2022 floods.
“One of the things about being a good council is being cohesive,” he said.
“You can be independent, and you can say what you like, but there’s got to be a certain amount of cohesion there and that was hard to achieve when we’re all on Zoom meetings, and we couldn’t meet and we couldn’t socialise and all that sort of thing.
“So that was traumatic, and it was traumatic for the council because we had people who were affected personally.”
He said that across the past four years, he had been involved in decision-making for some top community concerns.
“There were a couple of issues that caused us a lot of concern,” he said.
“One was affordable housing, and I voted to have affordable housing originally in the middle of town, but in the end it didn’t happen, and it’s a difficult one.
“Things like Australia Day and the Voice referendum where out of the goodness of the hearts of councillors, we thought is it our position to try and make a difference in these issues?
“And the community said, no, the community told us it’s not our brief, and I agree with that.”
On the topic of being a councillor and being mayor, he said the difference was just one step.
“It’s a privilege to be a councillor because you’re acting on behalf and talking on behalf, acting on behalf of 70,000 people within the municipality, not only ratepayers but people who live here who aren’t ratepayers,” Geoff said.
“Then the role of mayor is to go one step further, it is to sell the decisions of the council out into the wider community, to be an advocate for Greater Shepparton to state and federal government and all the agencies.
“I always say the mayor is the salesperson for Greater Shepparton and our mayor at the moment is just doing a magnificent job at doing that.”
One of his passions is ensuring that council is mindful of First Nation peoples.
“I think it’s important that council is in lock step with the Aboriginal community, that we are all on equal footing with the balance of the community,” he said.
Geoff has been a member of the community for his whole life, and said the biggest change had been development; however, what had remained was the town’s welcoming nature.
“Once upon a time, there was the CBD and that was it, and everything happened in the middle of town,” he said.
“The city of Shepparton has grown, and you see Tatura, it’s just expanded because businesses are attracted to Shepparton.
“If you want to be part of Shepparton, Shepparton will be part of you.”
What’s next for the former councillor? He sees travel and relaxation.
“We’ve just bought a caravan and my wife and me, we’ve travelled all around Australia — inland deserts, mountains, all over the place,” Geoff said.
“But in the last four years I’ve devoted my time to the council, which has restricted my time to be away so, now, that’s what we’re going to do.
“We’re off to the west coast of Australia next year and talking to our son, who’s in London, we may be taking a trip to London as well.”
He had two messages to leave, one for the next lot of councillors who will sit where he sat.
“Do your homework before you make a statement, ensure that whatever you’re saying either can be done or hasn’t been done,” he said.
“If you want to get my vote, you’ve got to be positive about your advocacy for me towards the council and if you’re going to make a promise, you better make sure that you can back it up because you’re only one of nine boats.
“If you lose the vote, move on quickly, don’t hold grudges because your turn will come.”
The other message was to the community.
“Councillors are community themselves,” Geoff said.
“They’re not highly paid state government workers, they’ve got their own jobs, their own families.
“So before anybody wants to be critical of members of council or council themselves, just remember that they are members of your community, they have families to go home to, so be kind.”