A second senior staff person has been dismissed from the District of Sechelt recently, leaving both the chief administrative officer (CAO) and now the corporate officer's positions pinned to the job board.
Jo-Anne Frank was terminated from her position as director of corporate services effective May 30, and the announcement was made on June 13, after in-camera discussions had taken place.
"I think it's a case of us wanting to go in a different direction," Sechelt Mayor John Henderson told Coast Reporter this week. "When this council was elected, it was to implement a bold and innovative set of initiatives. Part of that is making sure we have the best team we can put together. So in this case, council was of the view that we could move forward with a different team."
He said with the interviews for a new CAO, now dubbed the chief of innovation and growth (CIG) almost complete, Frank's dismissal was timely.
"We felt it was the right time to make this change as well," he said.
While an interim CAO has been hired and a new CIG is expected to be in place in the next few weeks, Henderson said Frank's former duties will fall to the rest of staff for now.
"We've allocated them around. It's a real testament to the team that we have the way people have stepped up to take on roles," Henderson said. "Margi Nicholas is acting corporate officer and doing a lot of Jo-Anne's work. She was deputy corporate officer before so it's a natural role for her to fill, and some of the others have also picked up different parts."
When asked if the community can expect any other senior staff layoffs in the future, Henderson said there are no plans in place.
"No, we don't have a plan. We're not working to a specific agenda. Like any organization, we're always assessing how we can build the team and make it stronger," he said.
"We're just rounding out the team that will let us achieve all the goals we've set."
