WESTLOCK – The man temporarily in charge of Westlock County counts 45-plus years of municipal government experience, including a three-month CAO stint in Westlock six years ago, and proudly says on his resume that he’s “never been fired, terminated, let go or asked to leave any municipality.”
Pat Vincent formally introduced himself to county councillors at their Feb. 15 governance and priorities meeting saying he’s “really pleased to be here to work with you and for you” — council and Vincent met privately for a CAO briefing following the regular meeting.
Vincent started his municipal career as CAO for the Town of Elk Point in 1981 and stayed there until 1991. Following he’s served as CAO of the towns of Slave Lake and Beaumont and then CAO of Parkland County from August 2007 until he officially retired Jan. 1, 2015.
“I was once challenged by a comment of an elected official who decried that all CAOs were retreads and had been fired at one time or another. I am very proud of my profession and the fact that I have never been fired, terminated, let go or asked to leave any municipality with whom I have been employed,” writes Vincent in his resume. “I believe this is an incredible achievement given the volatility of the municipal government environment and that the CAO is the only employee of council.”
Since then he started a municipal consulting business and has served as interim CAO for Thorhild County, the Town of Olds, City of Chestermere, Woodlands County and County of Vermilion River. Vincent also worked for Westlock County in the summer of 2016 and served as interim CAO between the tenures of Duane Coleman and Leo Ludwig.
Vincent says his approach to being a successful CAO has been guided by three principles starting with no surprises for council and vice versa. Second, if you make a mistake, admit it, fix it and learn from it. Finally, he says he’ll go to the wall defending council and staff and expects the same in return.
“It’s great to be back in Westlock County. One thing you need to know about me is that there are no tough questions. Ask me anything, anytime … not anywhere,” he told councillors with a chuckle. “If I can’t give you the answer on the spot, I will get you the information.”
Vincent’s contract
In a Feb. 18 follow-up interview, Vincent said he’s being paid $159 per hour, plus expenses like mileage, meals and hotel accommodations as he’s staying at the Westlock Inn during the work week.
“The contract is for 7.5 hours a day which is a little tough because it takes 10 or 12 hours to get all the work done, so I’m trying to limit my hours so it’s not overly burdensome,” said Vincent.
“I’m always sensitive to the costs to the taxpayers — I’ve been in the business a long time so I know we have to be prudent with tax dollars.”
Vincent also made it clear he’s not “trying to upset the apple cart” as current CAO Kay Spiess is slated to return from her “unexpected” leave March 18 — the same day his short-term contract expires.
“I’m a Type A personality so I want to get things done, so it’s tough to step back a little bit and just go with the flow to make sure it’s operating on a daily basis while still getting the things done that need to get done,” he said.
How we got here
Spiess, who started with the county in April 2021, began her six-week leave starting Feb. 4, one day following a four-hour-plus closed-door, councillors-only meeting. A motion made by Coun. Jared Stitsen and passed by council at that Feb. 4 meeting directed reeve Christine Wiese to get a legal opinion on in-camera item 9.1 — nothing further on that legal opinion was discussed during the Feb. 15 meeting.
Rosemary Offrey, who’s previously served as CAO for the Town of Rainbow Lake and manager of corporate services for the MD of Greenview, acted as interim CAO for the Feb. 8 council meeting, while Vincent was hired Feb. 9 to act as interim CAO.
