WESTLOCK - Westlock County council still hasn’t revealed how much former CAO Leo Ludwig received as a severance package, but say the total is less than one year’s salary.
In a brief Sept. 22 interview, deputy reeve Brian Coleman confirmed that the severance clause in Ludwig’s contract was capped at one year and that he would have needed at least six years of service to reach that total — Ludwig’s tenure with the municipality began in 2016.
According to the county’s audited financial statements from 2019, Ludwig earned $225,606: $184,963 in base salary and $40,643 for benefits, travel and allowances.
Following a four-month leave, Ludwig’s resignation was officially announced at council’s Sept. 8 meeting. At an Aug. 11 county meeting, council agreed to extend Ludwig’s leave for another three months — he was supposed to return at the start of August from a three-month medical leave. At the time, a two-week extension was also worked into the contract with interim CAO Rick McDonald, who had started May 12.
Previous to Westlock, Ludwig was CAO of Vulcan County and the Town of Coaldale and was terminated from both municipalities. He started at Westlock County on the brink of a Municipal Affairs inquiry into municipality’s activities prompted by the actions of previous CAO Peter Kelly. Following that inquiry, six of the previous seven councillors either lost their seat or did not run in October 2017 municipal elections.
