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Norfolk Mayor Kristal Chopp is being called out by a councillor alleging she failed to touch all the bases on the hiring of the county’s new CAO.
Chopp introduced Jason Burgess, Norfolk’s interim general manager of corporate services, as “our brand new, permanent CAO” to a large crowd in Simcoe on Feb. 13 at the county’s annual economic symposium.
Delhi Coun. Mike Columbus raised the matter on Feb. 18 because council – at a special closed-door meeting Jan. 30 – directed Chopp to negotiate an employment contract “with the confidential selected candidate under the agreed upon terms.”
The minutes from the Jan. 30 meeting, which was held in the boardroom at Millards Chartered Professional Accountants in Simcoe, go on to say “And the mayor report back to council at the first available meeting.”
Columbus was not pleased that the hiring was shared with the public and announced in the news media before council was debriefed.