ARICHAT: With the municipality’s current Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) set to retire at the end of the month, the search has started for his replacement.
“It is going to take some time, there’s no question, and it’s not something we’re going to be rushing either,” said Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette. “The initial conversations that we’ve had is that council wants to make sure that we take our time to find the right candidate.”
In a press release issued on March 1, Richmond Municipal Council thanked outgoing CAO Don Marchand for almost 27 years of service. The release said Marchand started his career with the municipality and spent 24 years in the finance department before being appointed for a one-year term as interim CAO in June 2019, after which he took over the position permanently.
Near the conclusion of the Feb. 28 regular monthly meeting, council said they officially began the search for a new CAO by reviewing the job description and hiring a human resources consulting firm.
“My feeling is that we will hire a HR consulting firm, that firm will work with council and staff to determine the set of qualifications that we’re looking for. We do already have a job description but this is an opportunity to kind of refresh that,” the warden noted. “And then we’ll be advertising publicly. So this will be a competitive process; that’s important to us to make sure that we’re opening the door for anyone to be able to apply for this opportunity.”
Mombourquette estimated the hiring process will take “a couple of months.”
“We may be surprised, and find someone much sooner than that, but we haven’t set any hard and fast deadlines yet because we haven’t really moved in the direction of securing a HR firm yet. That work is happening this week and next,” she said on March 11. “Once we have that in place, we’ll be better able to determine timelines.”
Following the resignation of former CAO Warren Olsen in October, 2016 after the findings of a forensic audit discovered questionable financial practices by the municipality, Maris Freimanis was hired late in 2016, then former CAO Louis Digout came on in the summer of 2017, both on an interim basis.
Richmond County then announced that Kent MacIntyre would be the new CAO in early 2018. After council dramatically fired MacIntyre at a special meeting on April 1, 2019, during an emergency meeting three days later, council announced that Marchand was taking over on an interim basis.
Following a virtual meeting of Richmond Municipal Council on June 1, 2020 Marchand was announced as the permanent CAO.
Pointing to the many qualifications needed for the post, as well as the current labour shortage, Mombourquette said they could pose challenges.
“We know there’s a limited number of people who would be qualified for this type of position. In the back of my mind, that actually is causing me a little more concern than anything,” she said. “Skills like communications, HR management, financial, we are going to be looking for someone with strength in a variety of areas. It does definitely narrow down the field of candidates, there is no question.”
Despite those factors, and “serious turn-over” in the CAO position in the past, the warden said this is still a great opportunity.
“I’m feeling pretty confident that we’re going to be able to attract a strong person to that role,” she stated. “COVID has been difficult on everyone, but I think there are more and more people looking for opportunities right here at home and also maybe looking for opportunities to move back home. So I do think Richmond County has a ton to offer. We have a fantastic staff, we have a council that’s eager to plan for the future.”
Pointing to those returning or moving to the area with “extremely high qualifications,” the warden added that the municipality is looking for candidates who are focused on the future.
“There’s an opportunity here to add to what’s already a really strong team with some leadership that is really going to be future focused. That has to be key for Richmond County. We have to make sure that our staff leadership and our council leadership has an eye on the future, and is not always looking back,” she added. “We have to have that future focus, because if not we’re going to be left behind. There’s lots of opportunity on the horizon now that we’re seeing COVID restrictions relaxed and a lot of optimism in the air.”