Iqaluit enforcement officer happy to step into CAO vacancy for now
Rod Mugford will serve as acting chief administrative officer until council selects permanent replacement for Amy Elgersma
Iqaluit city councillors appointed chief enforcement officer Rod Mugford as acting chief administrative officer Tuesday evening. (Photo by David Venn)
Iqaluit chief enforcement officer Rod Mugford said he’ll be happy to serve as acting chief administrative officer, but it’s not a position he can see himself in permanently.
By unanimous vote, councillors appointed Mugford to be the acting CAO at Tuesday’s council meeting.
He will fill in for Amy Elgersma, who is resigning after more than four years as the city’s top staffer for a job with another municipality in Ontario. Her last day is Nov. 11.
“I’m happy to step into that role,” Mugford said in an interview. “The city is a very strong organization. It has a lot of talented individuals.”
Before Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Kenny Bell asked Mugford if he’d be interested in helping the city transition into hiring a new permanent chief administrator, Mugford said.
Mugford has worked for the city for eight years, mostly as the chief enforcement officer. He served for a year as the city clerk in 2019 and 2020.
He said he has nearly two decades’ experience working with different levels of government in human resources and policy. He added that he already knows many city employees from his time as chief enforcement officer.
“I want to make sure that the transition goes as smoothly as possible,” he said.
That transition will start next week as Mugford gets up to speed learning about the priority projects the city has going on and appoints someone to temporarily fill in for him as chief enforcement officer.
Meanwhile, council has named councillors Kyle Sheppard, Kimberly Smith and deputy mayor Solomon Awa to form a committee to lead the search for a new permanent CAO.
Mr. Mugford is a nice man and a logical thinker. This is a thankless job, so I can understand not wanting to lead this role for the longer term. He has a strong understanding of municipal government, so I’m certain he will do fine as long as he is needed at the helm. Best of luck!
There is very little about being nice or “logical” that tells us much or guarantees aptitude for this position.
Ever notice how the bylaw officers are only active during the first and last week of the month? That could indicate that a quota system is used to manage the municipal enforcement officers.
you think too much, there is no plan or conspiracy or quota system. the city can barley scrape by daily, no one cares if there are two or ten tickets to taxi drivers.