NOTL takes next step in hiring CAO

The Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake has taken one early step in the process of finding its next head staffer.   

A chief administrative officer recruitment committee meeting was held Monday and lasted about 17 minutes – most of which was in closed session. When the committee returned to open session, two recommendations were approved.   

One was that a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction be applied to any negotiations carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board, specifically regarding retention of an executive recruitment firm.     

The second recommendation was that the committee endorse a recruitment firm that has been selected, and that the town will work on final contractual terms with them.   

The name of the firm was not mentioned in the open session portion of Monday's meeting.

This was the second meeting held by the committee. The first was March 25, and covered the committee’s terms of reference, a requirement to sign a confidentiality agreement, approving a description of the job, and what the hiring of an external search firm would involve.     

In January, the CAO role was taken on temporarily by Bruce Zvaniga following the resignation of former CAO Marnie Cluckie, who departed to take a top position with the City of Hamilton.     

The committee will provide advice to council as it relates to the recruitment and selection of a CAO, staff said in a previous report, and will also provide recommendations to council on the desired performance monitoring protocol for the CAO position.     

Council’s representatives on the committee are Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa and Couns. Erwin Wiens, Maria Mavridis, and Sandra O’Connor.   

Zvaniga, who has said publicly he is not seeking the position on a full-time basis, is also part of the recruitment process. In March, Zvaniga said the hiring process will take about six months. He also said at that time that five firms would be presented to the committee to select from.