A special Town of Athabasca council meeting held just after noon on Aug. 15 ended with the appointment of an interim chief administrative officer.
Warren Zyla, foreman for the town’s parks, was voted in as interim CAO following some discussion in council chambers.
Coun. Nichole Adams moved to appoint Zyla as the CAO. Councilllors Joanne Peckham, Shelly Gurba and Nichole Adams voted in favour of the motion. Mayor Roger Morrill and Coun. Tim Verhaeghe voted against it.
“Municipal Affairs said any town employee can be appointed, and Warren has an excellent reputation,” Adams said in an interview following the meeting. “He has good relations with the staff and everything so, fill in. It’s good.”
Earlier in the meeting, Morrill had made a motion to appoint former mayor Colleen Powell as the CAO, a motion that was backed by Verhaeghe, who attended the meeting over the phone. Gurba, Peckham and Adams voted against the motion, defeating it.
Couns. Steve Schafer and Tanu Evans were absent from the meeting.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily appropriate to have a former mayor become the administrative head of the town,” Adams said. “Being councillor isn't the same as running the town administratively. There’s different qualifications. Certainly, I would say being a CAO requires more qualifications than becoming a councillor.”
For more on this story, pick up next week’s Athabasca Advocate.
