Beaverlodge Mayor Gary Rycroft says the town may be without a Chief Administrative Officer until October or November. Former CAO Karen Gariepy officially resigned on June 22nd after being on an extended leave of absence since February.
Rycroft says the replacement, whoever it ends up being, must be versatile and able to cope with many things at once to succeed in the position.
“They [would] need to be aware and on top of budgets— how to deal with them, how to prepare them, how to deal with staff and the public; it’s a very comprehensive ordeal. You need to be on top of all of the pages at once so it’s not an easy job,” says Rycroft.
“Karen in a very short time period set the bar very high and she set her staff up to do better all the time,” he adds. “Those are the types of things we would like to see in the person who replaces her.”
Assistant CAO Tina Letendre has been filling in for Gariepy as the interim CAO and will continue to do so until a new candidate has been chosen. Applications to the position will be accepted until late September 2020.