Councillors have NO authority to hire, fire, supervise, discipline or evaluate any staff of a municipality other than their Administrator. Full Stop. I do not know why we are tiptoeing around this when the legislation is abundantly clear. Recently, during a webinar about legislated responsibilities for municipal employers, we ran into it again. Councillors reported to be micromanaging their CAO/Administrator by interfering with hiring, supervision, evaluation and discipline o

by Lorri Matthewson Administrator overreach happens when a CAO or municipal staff begin exercising powers that legally and democratically belong to Council. It’s not always intentional — but it almost always causes governance problems and makes Council look ineffective to the people who elected them. One of the biggest contributors to overreach is Council not staying in its lane. When Councillors spend their time chasing grader operators or micromanaging day‑to‑day operations

By Lorri Matthewson (Founder and Lead Consultant Matthewson & Co.) www.smallplacesrock.com Municipalities run on a combination of legislation, bylaws, policies, and day-to-day administrative practices. In theory, these elements work together to create a transparent, consistent, and legally compliant system of local governance. In reality, many municipalities rely far more on practice than on policy—and often don’t realize that there could be consequences. Across the muni