CAO selection process still a mystery for the moment
By Andrew Bennett
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.
