BONNYVILLE – Smoky Lake County's new CAO is a familiar face for Town of Bonnyville residents.
The county announced on Sept. 24 that Bonnyville Mayor Gene Sobolewski would be stepping into the role. Sobolewski had been working with the municipality since 2011 as an engineering consultant.
“Mr. Sobolewski has been working in the municipal field for 35 years in various capacities, starting in construction and later in senior management,” the statement read. “For the last 17 years, he has worked as a senior manager for a large engineering firm specializing in municipal infrastructure, regional water systems, sewer systems, roads, and bridges.”
The county said Sobolewski brings a "wealth of knowledge" to the job due to his past experience in local municipality by serving on town council as a councillor for three terms and as mayor for two terms, in Bonnyville.
Before accepting the position, Sobolewski ensured his current role as mayor wouldn’t impact the new job.
“There’s too much of a distance and I’m very cognizant about the perception of conflict as well,” he told Lakeland This Week. “I made arrangements to make sure that it doesn’t occur.”
According to Jill Wheeler-Bryks, communications director for Alberta Municipal Affairs, Sobolewski is well within his rights to take on the new role.
“There’s nothing that prevents a municipally-elected mayor from also working as a CAO or administration for a different municipality,” she stated in an email. “The only employment restriction for a municipally-elected official is that they cannot be an employee for the same organization in which they’re an elected official.”
Sobolewski says the job won’t interfere with his responsibilities as mayor.
“With the advent of the virtual tie-ins and virtual meetings and things of that nature, there’s no difference in terms of the time spent and what I need to do. I’m going to be commuting. I’m only a part-time mayor, I’m not a full-time mayor because, mind you, the way things are so busy you’d think that. In terms of time spent, I don’t see the difference,” he noted.
Sobolewski added, “I had a full-time job that required me to be out of town an awful lot or to juggle schedules in order to meet commitments of meetings and things if that nature. So I still have to do the same.”
In the event that Sobolewski can’t make a meeting or attend an event, the deputy mayor will be there in his place to fill in on behalf of the town.
