Mayor Ken Berry Shares the News Via Friday's Village Update
In an unusual development following the departure of Acting Chief Administrative Officer/Chief Financial Officer (CAO/CFO) Ron Miller, as reported here in The Watershed, Mayor Ken Berry has announced he has "assumed the CEO position, pending Council appointment of a new CAO". The announcement further states that provincially-appointed Municipal Advisor Randy Diehl has confirmed that Berry will act as a liaison between Council and Staff until a new CAO can be found.
According to the provincial website, being elected to the position of Mayor automatically confers the status of Chief Executive Officer of the municipality, so it is unclear what new role Berry is assuming.
The Watershed has reached out to Mayor Berry for clarification.
When asked for comment, Diehl stated that the elected office of Mayor carries "special powers" when required. He notes that among other duties, the Mayor "can step in to the role of managing the corporation in absence of designated staff person (either CAO or deputy) so that it keeps running smoothly."
Diehl further notes that while this situation "does not happen often, it does happen."
When asked whether this means Berry is assuming the role of Acting CAO, Diehl stated that the Mayor is "functioning under his duties as prescribed by law as the CEO."
The roles and responsibilities of Mayor and Council that are laid out by the provincial government for BC municipalities can be found HERE. Staffing of local governments varies by municipality, but the delineation between staff and council is clear. According to provincial government policy, "the roles of locally elected officials and local government staff are distinct. A council or board member cannot be a staff member of their local government, and a staff member of a local government cannot be one of its council or board members." The role of Council is to enact policy and good governance, and the role of staff is to implement these policies.
For now, at least, Lions Bay is once again without a Chief Administrative Officer, the third of this administration.
From Norma Rodgers
Check out the video from the March 23 Council Meeting when Interim CAO CFO Miller says the village received about 30 applications all with the required skill sets in response to Rebecca Casperson's question.
Norma Rodgers commenting.
Ron Miller was hired by illegal CAO Tobin since Tobin was not appointed by Council. Tobin quit because he was out of his depth and knew little about municipal governance. Interim CFO Miller was hired because he was a colleague of the Mayor even though he had no municipal experience. Miller was supposed to complete the budget that had been laid out by departing CFO Rooke. The Mayor appointed a Standing Committee membered by his supporters to help Miller get the budget done. Then Ministry appointed Diehl had the Village hire a municipal expert, at village cost, to finally get the budget completed months later than usual and at the last minute. This late budget led to…
To emiliemonty no I’m not ashamed to use my real name, Karen is having trouble with her web page just ask her, l talked to her this morning and she is trying to fix it. My name for the record is David Butler and all l have written is the truth, not hearsay, lies, or misinformation, but first hand experience lm willing to say in a court of law under oath. You on the other hand are being spoon fed misinformation by this Mayor and the cronies he hired, you don’t just loose 75% of long standing loyal employees on a whim. There is a solid reason for this mass exodus, that has never before happened in the history o…
One question popped into my head: if the mayor is enacting his 'CEO' role...is he getting paid what the CAO was getting paid while the search continues for the new one? I assumed 'no', but then I thought that I could be wrong.
This Newsletter is Unsanctioned and not Endorsed by the Village of Lions Bay.
It’s all a matter of simple math people… Figure it out!
Council would have had to vote on renewing Mr Millers employment contract - that vote could only be 5/0 (highly doubtful), 4/1 (not likely) or 3/2! My money is on 3/2.
It is fairly clear and obvious who the 3 were to not renew Mr Millers contract letting go a valuable asset and putting us in this position. This Newsletter is Unsanctioned and not Endorsed by the Village of Lions Bay.