Sechelt chief administrative officer Tim Palmer left the district on Jan. 12, before a new CAO could be hired.
Palmer had previously given his resignation in July 2016, after just six months on the job in Sechelt.
At the time he said he planned to stay in his role until a new CAO was hired, but it has been about six months and the district hasn’t found anyone to replace him.
Sechelt Mayor Bruce Milne acknowledged Palmer’s departure at the Jan. 11 finance, culture and economic development meeting.
“I’d just like to note that this is the last public meeting of our CAO, Mr. Palmer. … His last day in the office will be tomorrow [Jan. 12],” Milne said.
He noted Palmer had made many contributions to the district during the year he worked as the top manager. “There are a number that we could point to for Mr. Palmer,” Milne said. “Both in terms of the recruitment and solidification of the senior management team, and we don’t want to forget the DCC bylaw didn’t exist until those folks got on that, and that was brought home as well.”
Palmer said he wanted to thank council and the community for the “opportunity to be serving Sechelt over the past year.”
“It’s a beautiful community, beautiful natural amenities. It is very attractive, very well known throughout the province as a very desirable place to live,” Palmer said.
“I encourage council and the community and staff to work to preserve those natural amenities.”
In Palmer’s absence, director of finance Doug Stewart will be adding the CAO’s duties to his workload while council continues to search for a new administrator.
“We’ll be continuing with our CAO selection and interviews and we’ll let people know as soon as that proceeds, how it proceeds,” Milne said.
In July 2016 Palmer said he was resigning as CAO for “multiple factors” that were both personal and professional. “I’ve decided to return back into the private practice,” Palmer said at the time.
