Lac La Biche County is now missing a chief administrative officer (CAO) as well as someone to cover the CAO's duties in the meantime.
Lac La Biche County is now missing a chief administrative officer (CAO) as well as someone to cover the CAO's duties in the meantime.
Interim CAO Jeff Lawrence informed County Council on Thursday that he intends to return to his previous position of general manager of operations on April 22.
As of press time, it is not clear who will act as leader to the County's administrative staff until Council hires a new CAO - a process that is expected to take several weeks, if not longer.
Lawrence was named acting CAO in February, after Council passed a motion to fire CAO Roy Brideau without cause. Nancy Broadbent, general manager of corporate services, was appointed interim assistant CAO, but has since offered her resignation, effective April 17.
There has been no official news release from the County regarding Lawrence stepping down, but Mayor Aurel Langevin confirmed that that is the case.
Lawrence told Council last week that acting CAO is no longer the job for him, after councillors and administrators spent a day reviewing changes to the municipality's operational budget.
The six-hour meeting on Thursday was missing the terse discussions between councillors and managers that have become more and more frequent as budget deliberations have dragged on, but tensions between councillors became evident that afternoon.
When Councillor Hajar Haymour thanked administrators for complying with Council's wish to reduce the operational budget by 15 per cent, saying the municipality is in a better position now than it was in December when heavy borrowing was called for in the capital budget, Langevin advised him to double-check his numbers.
"I'm not pulling numbers out of the air," Haymour replied. "Let us not forget you wanted to borrow."
Haymour went on at some length until Langevin cut him off with a firm, "Thank you very much."
Arguments between councillors aside, the news that Lawrence is stepping down has fueled speculation over how Council works with County administrators.
When Brideau was dismissed in February, Langevin issued a statement saying it would be business as usual for the County. Commenters on the POST's Facebook page have since wondered if Council is proving too difficult for municipal managers to work with. The mayor was asked for his opinion.
"Relations between County Council and County administrators need work," Langevin told the POST. "There's always room to improve the relationship."
The CAO is supposed to act as a bridge between councillors and administrative staff. By law, every municipality in Alberta is required to have a CAO, so Council does not have the option of leaving the position vacant after Lawrence steps down later this month.
