Bancroft Council met today to go over the dismissal of Hazel Lambe of CAO and Clerk.
Mayor Paul Jenkins said that having a CAO is not a requirement. Under the Municipal Act, only an acting Clerk and Treasurer are required. Lianne Sauter was named the acting Clerk during the Council meeting.
He said that by eliminating the position of CAO, it pushes decision-making in the Municipality down to people doing the work every day. He says this will speed up the process because it will be in the hands of the people that do and know the jobs the best. “The staff know how to do it best,” he said.
Jenkins said the model they want to move towards is similar to the one used in Port Hope. Jenkins said he and Councillor Mullet met with Port Hope Mayor Bob Sanderson multiple times.
One thing that Jenkins was optimistic about was budget setting. He says he hopes to see it improve under this new model. He added that Sanderson said Port Hope’s budget process went quicker under the new model.
Jenkins wasn’t able to get into the specifics because of the legalities involved, but he said as of today’s meeting no litigation is pending from Hazel Lambe. He said that “mind reading is not one of his strongest suits,” when asked if he saw any challenges from Lambe going forward.
Jenkins reiterated this is an evolving process. This is only the first phase, he said. Jenkins said that this has been something that’s been worked on since he took office a year ago. “We all know the wheels of government turn slow. We want to turn them quicker,” Jenkins said.