It’s one of the most important jobs in Windsor, and the city is believed to be at a crossroads. Boyden's Andrew Dumont, Partner, is leading the recruitment of their new Chief Administrative Officer
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It’s one of the most important jobs in Windsor, and the city is believed to be at a crossroads.
That’s why council voted unanimously at a closed meeting last month to hire a recruiting company to search across Canada for a new chief administrative officer to replace Onorio Colucci, who will retire early next year.
“After having done the important and difficult work to get our city finances in order over the course of the past decade, the hiring of our next CAO represents a chance to reinvigorate our administration, to explore new ideas and tackle our next series of challenges: stronger economic diversification and continuing to build our community up …,” said Mayor Drew Dilkens. “… we’re seeking a public administrator that will help get us to that next level.”
It’s one of the most important positions in the entire city, said Coun. Rino Bortolin.
The CAO advises the mayor and council and executes their decisions. Together, they lead city hall, an almost $1 billion corporation that provides services as diverse as housing, parks and roads and has the biggest impact on everyday life here.
And, said Bortolin, with population growth, the beginning of economic diversification, a real estate boom and new development at key sites, “we’re on the brink of major changes. Opening it up to other people from across the country who have been part of these types of renaissances in other communities could have value in leadership and insight.
How the city climbs out of the pandemic during the next six months, even the next several years, will be very important, said Coun. Fabio Costante.
The city is also in the midst of addressing major issues like affordable housing, public transit, active transportation and climate change.
“All these are transformational changes that we’ve initiated that will have to be executed,” he said.
That’s why, said Bortolin, “it’s important to actually go out and knock on doors and shake the trees to get the best possible candidates to apply.”
It’s not that there’s no one here who can do the job. But “we wanted to make sure we left no stone unturned,” said Dilkens.
A hiring committee composed of Dilkens and five community leaders — Caesars Windsor president Kevin Laforet, former city CAO and now Enwin Utilities president and chief executive officer Helga Reidel, St. Clair College president Patti France and Windsor Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Rakesh Naidu — has been established.
Boyden Executive Search is consulting not only Dilkens, councillors, staff and city-owned companies like the airport and tunnel but a comprehensive and diverse list of others outside city hall, including health care and social service leaders, major employers and labour.
It’s all aimed at getting a picture of what the CAO should be. But it’s also an opportunity for a touchpoint, a chance to learn what people expect from city hall and their impression of the job it does. It’s a chance for the city to review, almost halfway through the current council’s term, its biggest opportunities and challenges, its priorities, the culture and dynamics of both city hall and the community and key relationships.
The recurring theme in the responses so far includes the need for economic diversification and the city’s role in addressing the lack of affordable housing and growing homelessness.
So what is the city looking for?
It wants the expected team-building, problem-solving and outside-of-the-box thinking.
But Bortolin wants more.
Like Colucci and Reidel before him, most CAOs come from the financial sector.
Bortolin wants someone with a broader repertoire in urban planning, social services, growth and city building, someone who develops partnerships with the community.
“All these things would really make somebody stand out,” he said.
There used to be a perception that Windsor can’t recruit from outside because people won’t move here. The question has already been raised this time.
But many believe that has changed. While Windsor is outside the Greater Golden Horseshoe that stretches from Niagara Falls to Barrie, people who left here are returning and others from elsewhere are moving here, attracted by the lower cost of living, relief from long commutes in cities like Toronto, proximity to a major city like Detroit without the headaches and the region’s other amenities, like wineries.
“I think we can recruit someone to this post,” said Dilkens.
Certainly Windsor is a different place than it was 10 years ago, when it was losing population, tax revenue and jobs.
“We’re on an upward trajectory,” said Bortolin. “Someone vying for a position like this would see huge opportunity.”
The Windsor Police Service hired an executive search firm and recruited across Canada for a new chief only to promote deputy chief Pam Mizuno.
But, said Bortolin, a member of the police board, “there were definitely other viable candidates not from here who made the top three. When they came here they had a much better perception of (Windsor).”
The search, expected to cost between $35,000 and $45,000, will cast a wide net, looking at those who are a step below CAO in larger cities like Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Halifax, CAOs of smaller cities like Burlington, those who work in the provincial and federal governments and even the private sector.
The hiring committee will recommend two finalists to council, which will choose one. It’s hoped the new CAO will be hired by January.
