Strong debate over deputy CAO

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By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

An attempt to put the hiring of a deputy chief administrative officer (CAO) under Chatham-Kent council’s purview has failed.

The decision was reached following an hour-long discussion at the Jan. 27 meeting that saw the majority of a motion by Chatham Coun. Alysson Storey turned down.

Storey’s three-part motion called on the CAO’s office to provide a job description for the deputy CAO role; a financial analysis indicating how the role will be paid for, and comparisons with other municipalities to see if they have deputy CAOs on staff.

However, only the job description item passed.

A friendly amendment by South Kent Coun. Ryan Doyle to allow council to review the deputy CAO posting, participate in candidate interviews for the position and to be part of performance reviews and compensation decisions was withdrawn.

In putting the motion forward, Storey said that when the CAO and deputy CAO’s roles are combined, they equal more than $500,000 annually.

“I believe that warrants more discussion,” she told council. “When the average household income is $79,500, I just think this is the type of expenditure that council and the public should be reviewing. It is part of our role under the municipal act to discuss senior management decisions.”

According to the job posting on Indeed, the deputy CAO has a salary range of $196,000 to $240,000. CAO Michael Duben earns an annual salary of $319,000.

Storey said she thought the matter should have been brought out in open council.

Chatham Coun. Michael Bondy said he felt the new hire “further erodes” council’s ability to make an objective decision in hiring the next CAO, when the deputy CAO is already on staff.

“You’re going to choose the next CAO, not us,” Bondy told Duben. “Strangely. That’s why I have difficulty with this.”

In response, Duben said there are people currently on staff who could step into the CAO role when the time comes but they “may not be here, in three to four years.”

He added he discussed the idea of a deputy CAO role with council in closed session in December, noting the new role is primarily about succession planning and enhancing advocacy with upper-tier governments. Discussing an individual employee’s circumstances isn’t appropriate in open council, he added.

Storey didn’t attend that meeting.

Duben pointed out that Chatham-Kent has a delegation of authority bylaw in place that puts control under his responsibility.

The CAO job is the only position that council hires and this is carried out by the CAO Performance Review and Compensation Committee, with the final decision to be made by all of council.

The CAO is then responsible for hiring the rest of the executive management team.

In explaining the deputy CAO job, Duben stressed the position wouldn’t cost taxpayer’s extra money. He said the salary would be covered off by a future retirement on the executive management team and the fact that another senior management position has been vacant for two years and won’t be filled.

Duben said he didn’t ask for council’s approval on the deputy job because he doesn’t require it under the bylaw.

“Now is a good time for us to look at what this organization is going to look like in the next couple of years,” the CAO said. “From my perspective, we can use a deputy CAO.”

Duben said the role will have a positive impact on the tax base, adding it’s his job to save Chatham-Kent money. He said he would have asked for the position to be part of the budget process if he thought the role would cost additional dollars.

Another goal of filling the deputy CAO post, he said, is to have at least one individual on staff who could share an enhanced advocacy role – something he said Chatham-Kent is “falling short on.

“Many municipalities have a person who is in charge of government relations; we don’t have a person who in charge of government relations,” he said. “My suggestion is that this is something this deputy would do. There are many times we are triple or quadruple booked and we simply can’t participate,” he added. “And we’re missing out.”

Duben pointed out that C-K’s last recruitment process, prior to his hiring, didn’t go “all that well.”

He also acknowledged that the deputy CAO role may irk the public.

“I understand from the public’s perspective…they see a posting, it’s big dollars, so the sky is falling,” he said. “I get it, I understand that.”

When Mayor Darrin Canniff weighed in on the matter, he said it probably wouldn’t have been an issue if the job had a different name.

Canniff said the problem is in the title.

“We are kind of hung up on the deputy CAO title,” he told council, adding that he’ll be supporting hiring the “best person” to replace Duben when the time comes and it won’t necessarily be the person in the deputy CAO role.

According to Duben, 40 people have already applied for the deputy’s position.

Storey said she was uneasy with the discussion as there are so many “unknowns,” wondering why a decision couldn’t be made when there are more details.

“I’m not hearing answers that I am comfortable with, to support this,” Storey concluded.

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