Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
The head of the Town of Kindersley’s administration has announced he is moving on to a new position, and the search has already begun to find a replacement.
A news release on May 25 states that Bernie Morton, the town’s chief administrative officer (CAO), has announced his resignation to pursue another professional opportunity. Morton has served as the town’s CAO since January 2012 after being hired late in 2011.
Kindersley CAO Bernie Morton resigned from his post last week after having served in this capacity since January 2012.
Morton said he is moving on to pursue a position with a fast-growing city in Alberta, but he could not say which city until an official announcement had been made. The announcement was expected to be made on Monday, but the news had not been announced by press time on Tuesday.
He noted that representatives of several other municipalities have approached him over the past four years or so to ask if he would consider joining their administrations, so there has been other opportunities in Saskatchewan and across Canada.
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Morton has been involved with the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) and he said the interest in his services comes, in part, due to 40 per cent of administrators across Canada approaching retirement, so municipalities are trying to recruit new administrators as a result.
“There’s a dramatic shortage and for those who have experience and have had some success, they’re in high demand,” he said of municipal administrators, recognizing that town officials have asked him to do some recruiting.
Morton, who spoke to the Clarion on Friday, said he does committee work for CAMA and he is now attending the 2018 CAMA Conference in Fredericton, N.B. He said council has asked him to talk to administrators at the conference to see if they are interested in a position working in Kindersley. He noted that the town will be posting the job soon, so he hopes to attract candidates while attending the conference.
He said if his family was going to leave the Kindersley area, it had to be for the “right community.” The CAO said his official resignation comes near the end of July, but he plans to take holidays before his final day. He said he starts his new job on Aug. 1 and he is working with council to plan for the interim.
“I’m working right now on a transition plan with council,” he said, recognizing that there would be an interim plan in place when he leaves to bring his replacement up to speed on more than 20 open files including large capital projects.
Morton said he wanted to make sure the Kindersley Aquatics Centre project was well underway before he left. He also referred to starting on a new fire hall, trying to get funding for a lagoon project and helping to facilitate new development as important ongoing files.
He noted that Audrey Hebert, the town’s director of corporate services, serves as acting CAO when he is away at conferences or on holidays, but it would be up to council to appoint an interim CAO until his replacement is hired.
When asked about the accomplishments he is most proud of from his time in Kindersley, Morton said there is no shortage of things that have happened since 2012. He said he started with the town at a time when Kindersley was experiencing challenges with long-term planning and “heavy tax increases.”
There was a shortage of hotel accommodations and housing in town, and he said good progress has been made. Morton said he helped to get long-term plans in place for infrastructure and finances. The stability is a source of pride, he explained.
“I say bringing financial stability (to Kindersley) was really important and that’s the number one accomplishment,” Morton said, noting that he is also proud of economic incentives in place helping to spur new developments in town.
He said he was pleased to help establish regional partnerships for a new landfill and bylaw court. The CAO said he would play a role in the process to find his replacement. He said he wanted to thank all of the councils and colleagues from his tenure, and the community members that he has served.
Mayor Rod Perkins said the announcement did not come as a surprise to him. He noted that Morton campaigned in an effort to become a candidate in the Battlefords-Lloydminster byelection in December, so he has been exploring options.
He noted that the municipality would have a hard time retaining a person with Morton’s talents and connections due to the salary scale in place. According to the mayor, the job will be posted and the deadline for applications will be set for the middle of June. The job will be posted in various places such as SaskJobs.ca and with the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association among others.
Perkins said he could confirm that Morton will act in an advisory role to council with respect to hiring a replacement, but the outgoing CAO’s involvement depends on how the search is progressing. Council still has to finalize the process to be used for interviewing and evaluating candidates, he said.
The current council has been in place for 18 months and only one member, Deputy Mayor Shaun Henry, served on a previous council. The mayor said he believes council has come a long way under the administration currently in place.
He said Morton is a “really knowledgeable” person and he has a good mind for solving problems, so he wanted to thank Morton for his service and wish him well in the future. Council is anticipating challenges during the transition to a new CAO, but challenges will be overcome, Perkins added.
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