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Update - District of Sicamous council fills vacant administrator position with former interim CAO

Council hires Doug Ruttan back as interim chief administrative officer.

Updated Jan. 31

Sicamous council and staff were breathing a sigh of relief last week with the hiring of an interim chief administrative officer.

Mayor Darrell Trouton announced Wednesday that on Jan. 24, council had hired Doug Ruttan as interim district administrator.

“Council, along with a consultant, reviewed all the resumés and we decided to hire Doug Ruttan,” Trouton said at Wednesday’s committee of the whole meeting. “He will be our interim CAO (chief administrative officer) and he will be starting today.”

Ruttan will be taking over from Alan Harris, whose contract was terminated by council  earlier this year. Ruttan served as interim CAO for the district in 2008.

Trouton said the district had nine applicants, all of whom were highly qualified.

Acting CAO Ruth Walper, who has worked with Ruttan in the past on more than one occasion, said she was relieved to return to her full-time duties as financial services director.

“Prior to his retirement, he was the CAO for the City of Quesnel, and I worked there as well,” said Walper.

Noting the haste and good fortune with which council was able to bring Ruttan onboard, Trouton emphasized that it’s all about accountability.

“When we’re doing this stuff and we’re moving forward, it’s being accountable,” said Trouton. “And if things aren’t going in the direction that we feel it should be going in, then we should make those changes. I think that’s part of being accountable, not dragging it on.”

Trouton says he and council will be sitting down with the new CAO to discuss the upcoming assessment of district operations council aims to have done. He notes the district isn’t as busy now as it was in 2006/07, and with the new council and changes in administration, there is an opportunity to do a review to see “what we really need and how can we job share to be more efficient.”

Trouton says a visioning process for establishing terms of reference for the new district economic development committee will tie into all of this and be used to move forward as well.

 



Lachlan Labere

About the Author: Lachlan Labere

Editor of the Salmon Arm Observer, Shuswap Market, and Eagle Valley News. I'm always looking for new and exciting ways to keep our readers informed and engaged.
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