BORDEN-CARLETON, P.E.I. — The town of Borden-Carleton needs a budget.
The sudden resignation in March of Anytra Eterovich, the town’s chief administrative officer, left elected officials with no one to help create and draw up its fiscal plan for the year.
“(The resignation) was a surprise to us,” said Mayor Charles MacKenzie.
At their May 14 meeting, councillors voted to extend an offer to Maria Sanderson to become the temporary CAO. The plan is for Sanderson work three days a week until a permanent CAO is in place.
First on the temporary CAO’s to-do list will be to finalize the budget. Until then, Borden-Carleton will continue to function on a day-to-day basis.
“We’re just doing things that have to be done,” said MacKenzie. “That’s as far as we’re going right now until we get our budget in place. Then we can run a normal town.”
The mayor said the province is aware and is understanding of the situation, but council is ready to reach a solution.
“We’re putting the pressure on ourselves more than anything,” said MacKenzie. “We want to get it done too; we know we’re not supposed to running without a budget.”
Borden-Carleton voted to engage a firm to hire the future CAO. The quote from Dorchester Group was $5,000 less than the other two quotes, at $2,500 plus HST.
The firm will consult with council to profile the ideal candidate, create the job posting, screen candidates and create a short list, formulate interview questions, coordinate and attend interviews, conduct reference checks, create a letter of offer and finally extend the offer, said Coun. Nicole Arsenault, reading from the letter from the consultants.
MacKenzie hopes the process won’t take more than the estimated three to four months.
