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 (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