Westlock County council is expected to appoint a fill-in administrator at its June 28 meeting to manage the municipality until a permanent replacement is found.
Reeve Bud Massey confirmed the county has opened a new search using Vancouver-based recruitment firm James R Craven and Associates — the same firm used to hire Peter Kelly and Duane Coleman.
“We’ve already initiated a search for a CAO and so we’re just seeing what our options are now,” Massey said.
He did confirm there is a need for someone to bridge the gap.
“We will need someone to cover for a period of time until we get a new one,” he said.
On Friday, June 24, Massey said councillors met in-camera to discuss options surrounding the CAO topic, but no decision was made.
“We’ve had some discussion and everything will be brought out on Tuesday at the meeting,” the reeve said.
Coleman announced his resignation from Westlock County following council’s June 14 meeting. At the same meeting, councillors gave Massey the green light to approach the recruiters for the purpose of hiring a new CAO.
Massey initially suggested that the county had a candidate in mind from the most recent round of hiring three months ago when Coleman was appointed.
“We had another individual we were very interested in and that process is moving forward,” Massey said on June 15.
“We have to see if the person is interested in the job and when they would be available.”
Massey would not confirm, or deny, that the county had approached anyone, or made any offers.
Coleman’s final day with the county was June 24, although he indicated he would try to attend council’s June 28 meeting. Coleman was hired as the CAO of Leduc County and starts his new position July 4.
