Efforts to find a new chief administrator for the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake have hit a snag, leaving the possibility of being unable to fill the role permanently by the end of the year.
After failing to secure the top candidate out of approximately 70 people who applied, the town’s selection committee is being forced to renew its efforts.
“We had one that we were pleased with but we weren’t able to make terms with them, which is disappointing,” said Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa who, along with councillors Erwin Wiens, Sandra O’Connor and Maria Mavridis, made up the town’s hiring team.
Bruce Zvaniga is currently serving as the interim CAO. He replaced Marnie Cluckie last December and made it clear he would not take the job on permanently.
Cluckie left to become Hamilton’s city manager.
Recruitment efforts for that permanent replacement began in earnest earlier this year and hit a near-end point early last month with the identification of a group of top candidates.
The town hired Phelps Group, a Toronto executive search firm, to help identify those qualified individuals.
With this new setback, it is doubtful Zvaniga’s replacement can now be found before Jan. 1 — the date Zalepa said was his goal.
“We were hoping to have this wrapped up for this year. I don’t suspect that’s going to be possible,” he said.
In an Oct. 30 press release, the town announced that Zvaniga has agreed to remain in his acting role until a permanent CAO can be found.
Zalepa is pleased the veteran municipal civil servant has agreed to remain at the post.
Zvaniga, who has over 40 years of municipal administration experience, has been commissioner of public works for Niagara Region and Brampton, and spent 27 years working for the City of Toronto.
“It is so vitally important to have somebody like that, with not only the expertise and the experience from his past, but the commitment to the community,” said Zalepa.
The lord mayor added that he understands Zvaniga’s desire to call it a day on his career and hopes a suitable replacement can be found soon.
“We know that our interim CAO is at a point in his career where he’s looking to take more personal time,” he said.
“But we really value his ability and how he’s done things. The community is really lucky to have somebody like that.”
Zalepa is confident that with the continued help of Phelps Group another top candidate will be found.
“We are definitely ahead in the process because the work we put in with the consultants to identify for council the right skill set. That kind of thing is all done,” he said.
“We just really have to recast and hopefully we get some interviews going and get back to where we were a lot quicker than the first time.”
Zvaniga declined to comment on the matter.
The town’s communications department said he “is open to providing an interview once the new CAO has been appointed and a transition plan is in place for his departure.”
