Minden Hills CAO Trisha McKibbin is leaving the township.
Mayor Bob Carter confirmed her resignation July 13, saying she is headed to Strathroy-Caradoc in southwestern Ontario.
McKibbin joined the township on July 6, 2020. Carter said she would be wrapping up her work the beginning of August.
Council held a special meeting July 17 to discuss next steps.
McKibbin said she would like to thank Minden Hills’ council, staff and residents for the opportunity to be the township CAO these past three years.
“The township is fortunate to have such knowledgeable and dedicated staff and it has been my privilege to work alongside them. I have learned so much during my time with Minden Hills, and I will carry the knowledge and experiences forward with me throughout my professional career.”
Carter used a baseball metaphor in discussing McKibbin’s departure. He said, “we’re sort of the single A level. If you look at the sunshine list… if you just go to different towns of different sizes, and see how much certain positions pay, as you go up in the size of the towns and if you go up in the leagues, the compensation packages change dramatically and anybody who’s good and somewhat upwardly mobile in their career, it’s hard to turn down.”
The mayor said McKibbin helped lead the township through COVID, but also navigate a major transition in the complexity of government.
“You’ve got the provincial government, which at any point in time is passing major new legislation which affects you dramatically, and you have to be able to react to it.”
For example, he noted three major pieces of legislation regarding planning over the last little while.
“So, what I think she really brought into the area was getting the organization ready to be able to deal with that and going out and hiring good people to run the departments. I think that was really important because now we have very good directors and she put that team together.”
