3 of 4 Cape Breton counties searching for new CAO

There's a hiring competition underway among three of Cape Breton's four counties.

The municipalities of Victoria, Inverness and Richmond are all on the hunt for a new chief administrative officer.

"It's going to be a very interesting competition to see who gets the best person, but of course Victoria County will come out ahead, as we always do," joked Victoria County Deputy Warden Larry Dauphinee.

Victoria's CAO for the past 15 years has been Sandy Hudson. He's set to retire on Oct. 15, two weeks after his counterpart in Inverness County.

Former Inverness CAO Joe O'Connor retired on Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, Richmond County has been without a permanent CAO since Warren Olsen resigned in October of 2016 as the result of an expense scandal.

A forensic audit and an ombudsman's report into the county's finances said Olsen and former warden Steve Sampson had spent public money on alcohol and questionable travel and food expenses.

'Fishing out of the same pond'

The timing of the CAO searches will make for a challenge, said Victoria Warden Bruce Morrison.

"I guess we'll probably all be fishing out of the same pond, so to speak," he said.

"I think Richmond County might be a little ahead of the game. I think they started earlier," said Inverness Warden Betty Ann MacQuarrie. "But I believe that Victoria County and Inverness County started their search at right around the same time. So, with others across the province, it's going to be a challenge to find that right person."

There are actually eight municipalities across Nova Scotia currently looking to hire a CAO, the Department of Municipal Affairs confirmed Thursday.

When it comes to recruiting for small, rural municipalities, the pool of candidates is not extensive, said Gerry Walsh of Gerald Walsh Associates, an executive search firm based in Halifax.

"There are some very young aspiring CAOs who are relatively new in their careers and looking to move up," Walsh said. "And there would be a number of people who have actually moved away from Atlantic Canada and they're working out west or up north for municipalities, as well, who want to return home. So we often get resumés from that group."

Promising response

Richmond County carried out its search without the help of a headhunter, and if its experience is any indication, the other municipalities should have no trouble generating interest.

"We had just an excellent response," said Louis Digout, the interim CAO of Richmond County.

The process attracted 46 applicants, and of those, almost half made the first cut, he said.

Richmond County is currently negotiating with a potential candidate, and hopes to have that process concluded within two weeks.

Inverness and Victoria counties both hope to have their new CAOs in place by Jan. 1.