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CAO selection process still a mystery for the moment

by Andrew Bennett on 06 Sep 2012
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CAO selection process still a mystery for the moment

Council declassified the in camera (closed meeting) minutes last night regarding the resignation of CAO Victor Kumar and his replacement by Cecile Arnott—seemingly by appointment rather than through an open job competition—but the details of the switch nevertheless remain unavailable for the moment.

Coun. Kathy Moore was the only councillor to comment at last night's meeting.

"I am happy to see this come forward at this time," she said, "but I'm extremely disappointed that this didn't come forward earlier."

"I think we owed it to our citizens to make this announcement earlier and to do a thorough search for the replacement," she continued. "But I'm happy to see it moving forward."

Mayor Greg Granstrom replied, "I think it's important to note there are two sides to that coin. We also have to respect the people who are coming in and the people who are leaving, and that's what we tried to do."

"There was no motion of council to proceed in any other way. The motion that was made was to proceed in the manner that we proceeded, thank you very much. Further discussion?” He asked. “Seeing none, all in favour?"

Council then voted to declassify the in camera minutes of the June 11 and June 27 meetings in which Kumar resigned and Arnott was hired.

On Wednesday morning, we requested both the minutes and the new CAO's contract—in addition to all senior management contracts, for comparison—but as of publication, we have yet to receive a reply from the city.

Comments

This is the most important position in City Hall

by Diana Daghofer on 10 Sep 2012 at about 08:50.

...and Council appointed someone, without any kind of transparent search process? I find this hard to fathom. Why would they not seek an economical way to ensure that we have access to the best qualified candidates possible? I would really like to see an explanation of that.

Following our report last

by Adrian Barnes on 06 Sep 2012 at about 11:24.

Following our report last week that the CAO had resigned and a replacement had already been named through in camera proceedings, the Rossland Telegraph polled readers with the question:

“We still don't know how it happened recently, but how do you think the City of Rossland SHOULD handle the hiring of a new CAO?”

As of publication, 22 readers had responded, “An open job search to access all qualified candidates,” one reader had responded, “Leave the decision to the departing CAO,” and no readers had yet chosen to respond, “Make the decision based on private leads.”

The poll, linked above, will remain open as we await the details of council’s chosen procedure and the contract they have approved for Arnott.

Declassified in camera minutes

by Andrew Bennett on 06 Sep 2012 at about 11:14.

We have just received copies of the declassified minutes from Corporate Officer Tracey Butler.

The June 11 meeting was fully attended by the members of council, and Victor Kumar's letter of resignation was received.

On June 27, council voted to hire Cecile Arnott as both the CAO and the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) in a combined position. Coun. Jill Spearn was absent and Coun. Kathy Moore attended the meeting by phone.

Below, we quote the substantive portions of the minutes in full. No further information is available.

June 11:

"June 11, 2012 City Manger letter of resignation - Notice of the Termination of Employment Contract effective January 2, 2013."

June 27:

"Discussion on interview with Ms. Cecile Arnott for the position of CAO/CFO.

"Motion: Wallace / Blomme

"Resolved that council offer Ms. Cecile Arnott the position of Chief Administrative Officer/Chief Finance Officer.
 
"Carried."