Dear Editor:
The Township of Centre Wellington will be seeking applicants for a new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). This is a great opportunity to reassess the job description for this position.
Do citizens as taxpayers have any impact on the choice of who will be employed in this key staff position?
Our community has expressed, through surveys and workshops, that it values a small-town, village character. We expect that the newly chosen CAO must promote this municipality’s specifically identified missions and values.
Amalgamation has sought to meld together the town of Fergus, the village of Elora and portions of the townships of Pilkington, Nichol, Eramosa and West Garafraxa. Six wards with very different characters. But none want the standards and growth of Mississauga.
The role of the CAO as the administrative lead of the township, and the link between council and staff, is critical to the harmony of our municipality.
We want a new CAO who’s willing to hardline developers with the zoning bylaws set out in our official plan, and consistent with county and provincial policies; a CAO whom citizens can rely on to respect transparency and due diligence and who demands from staff the detailed reports which deliver information to the public.
We ask for a CAO who will put urban design guidelines on the front burner, to claim protection for our inherent environmental, topographic, and cultural features. This draft document has laid fallow since 2009 and must be revised to include special provisions for identified heritage areas. Also imperative of action is a Strategic Growth Plan for the Township of Centre Wellington and the updating of our Official Plan through community consultation, as it has not been updated for 12 years.
We ask for immediate action affirming structures that maintain our neighborliness, our artistic involvement, our streetscapes of boulevards and trees, and all those elements that enrich our valued communal, village way of life.
Beverley Cairns,
Elora, Architectural Conservancy
of Ontario Representative
Wellington/Guelph Branch