Rush job to hire permanent CAO catches some CBRM councillors off guard

Cape Breton regional council has voted to make its interim chief administrative officer permanent in a surprise move that some councillors argue was too rushed.

During debate Tuesday, Coun. Earlene MacMullin unexpectedly proposed an amendment to immediately appoint Demetri Kachafanas permanently to the role of CAO — a position he's held on an interim basis since Marie Walsh retired in the fall.

MacMullin said Kachafanas, CBRM's former solicitor, has made significant improvements in operations at city hall.

"The last administration I found very difficult," MacMullin said. "This administration ... I'm only going to speak for myself, for my constituency work, and things around this building, I am making ground for the first time in a long time."

Several of her colleagues agreed, including councillors Gordon MacDonald, Steve Gillespie and Darren O'Quinn.

Coun. Glenn Paruch — whose late father, Ray, was a longtime councillor with a penchant for quotable sayings — spoke in favour of the administrative changes Kachafanas has made.

"I'm going to steal a line that my father said, maybe in like 2001: 'We put the fun in dysfunctional,'" Paruch told council. "We've taken that out this term."

Not every councillor, however, was in favour of making a decision Tuesday. The agenda for the day only included developing a performance evaluation policy for the CAO's position and deciding on a contract structure.

Coun. Kim Sheppard-Campbell and Deputy Mayor Eldon MacDonald objected to MacMullin's amendment, saying they were not against Kachafanas, but they believed the hiring process was being rushed.

"I'm not prepared to make a split-[second] decision on something that was just got brought up 10 minutes ago," MacDonald said. "Personally, I was leaning towards searching for a new CAO."

Other councillors said appointing Kachafanas immediately would potentially save CBRM the cost of hiring a headhunting firm. Mayor Cecil Clark said it cost CBRM roughly $40,000 when it hired a firm in 2014 and found Michael Merritt.

Sheppard-Campbell said Kachafanas might well be the front-runner for the job, but she wanted to see the position advertised, despite the potential cost.

"Our last CAO just cost us almost $500,000," she said, referring to Walsh's retirement package, which included two years' salary at roughly $230,000 a year plus benefits.

"To spend $20,000 to make sure that we're doing the process fairly, to me, that's money well spent."

The CAO is only answerable to council and is the only staff position council can hire or fire.

The amendment to appoint Kachafanas to the role permanently passed 10-2, with Coun. Steve Parsons absent, and Sheppard-Campbell and the deputy mayor opposed. Kachafanas left the room during debate on the amendment.

Clark said despite some councillors' concerns about the decision being sprung on council, CBRM set a precedent with the last CAO.

He said hiring Walsh permanently was discussed in camera at a meeting in 2017 and approved by motion in open session later at the same meeting.

Tuesday's council agenda contained about 70 pages of background material on best practices for hiring and evaluating a CAO.

It found CBRM's CAO pay is below several other municipalities of a similar size, ranging from $244,500 to $292,000.

Clarke said other municipalities commonly offer the CAO a fixed-term contract with extension or renewal options, which can limit severance costs and provide council with some flexibility.

Council voted unanimously to make the position's fixed-term contract for five years, with an optional three-year extension.

It also voted to adopt a new performance evaluation policy that will see council appoint a four-person committee to set goals for the CAO in consultation with the CAO and senior staff. The contract will include those goals and annual reviews to monitor progress.

Clarke said the contract would have to be ratified by council as a whole. Failure to meet the goals could amount to termination of the CAO.

MacMullin said she was in favour of the new process because an attempt to evaluate the previous CAO had been scuttled by the former mayor.

"It was defeated before it started," MacMullin said. "It was convoluted. It was frustrating, so this policy is really welcomed."

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