Mark passes the shire baton to Leonie

Bourke Shire Council General Manager Mark Riley hands over the management baton to Leonie Brown at Bourke Shire Council Chambers. Photo Noel Fisher

The job of the General Manager of Bourke Shire has now passed to Leonie Brown who has been Mark Riley’s “deputy” while he has held the role.

Mark Riley leaves Bourke and the big job at the shire council tomorrow, as he takes the flight out of Bourke to return home to Dubbo for the last time after 16 months as General Manager.

Leonie takes over the reins in the top job from Monday.

Mr Riley said that the changeover will be seamless, as over the last few months Leonie has been taking on some of the tasks of the position to allow for an easy transition.

“That is important for both Leonie and the organisation,” Mr Riley said.

“I am now looking forward to retirement and I’ll start looking at my travel plans and see where we would like to go.

“Being out here we probably neglected our kids a bit. One is in Sydney and the other is in Wollongong, so I am looking forward to being able to spend time with them.

“It will also be good to escape the day-to-day rigours of the job and the responsibilities that come with the job.

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