Nanton Town Council is proud to announce the appointment of Neil Smith as our next Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)-The resolution to appoint him was made formally at the Nov 5, 2018 council meeting. He will be assuming his role and responsibilities starting Jan 7, 2019.
The role of CAO is the key leadership position within a municipality. They are responsible for implementing the direction of council throughout the organization and the town, while maintaining day to day operations and service levels. They need to be adaptable, have great communications skills, think outside of the box and have an ability to protect the town through policies and strong leadership and direction. We were very fortunate to have attracted so many strong candidates throughout this hiring process and are grateful that Neil and his family chose to join our town.
Neil who is originally from Scotland has over 10 years of municipal experience and has most recently been the CAO of the Village of Kaslo in British Columbia. He brings with him a diverse level of experience from economic development, to grant writing, to planning, to building on collaborations and of course an understanding of infrastructure needs. He applied to the town of Nanton specifically seeking to be in a smaller community that is closer to a larger city, as well as looking for a community with great schools for his children to attend. Council feels that Neil will be a strong and stable asset to administration, the town, council and our region. As we toured the town with Neil it became very obvious to us the wealth of practical knowledge and resourcefulness that he will be bringing with him.
At this time I also want to thank the Governance committee, chaired by Councillor Beryl West and all of The Nanton town Council for their time and thorough dedication throughout this hiring process. It is not easy and there are many variables that go into the selection process. We had 45 applicants, 5 for interview with the committee and 3 for interview and town tour with all of council. From the time we received notice of Tarolyn’s departure to the time Neil signed his contract it was a total of 51 days. I could not be more proud of this council, thank you.
Council also wishes to thank the current CAO Tarolyn Aaserud for her time with us and wish her and her family all of the best. In the interim until Neil Smith starts we welcome Monique Jefferys as our Interim Acting CAO. With the help of our incredible and hard working staff she will take us through budget season and prepare the transition for Neil to join us.
Council is excited about maintaining and building on the positive momentum and systems that we have developed over the last year and feels that with the addition of Neil to our existing senior leadership team, Nanton will be well positioned for the future. Please join us in welcoming Neil, his wife Laura and their four children to Nanton.
Jen Handley
Mayor of Nanton