THE Mayor’s Office is looking for a suitable candidate to fill the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and despite the newness of the title, it is in fact nothing new; at least according to Jason Hullingseed, Press and Communications Officer of the Office of the Mayor.
“Well the position of CEO is nothing new.” Hullingseed said to this reporter in an exclusive interview.
The position is one that takes on the tasks previously carried out by the Town Clerk. As Hullingseed puts it, with new leadership comes a new vision and that has been manifested in the change of the position of Town Clerk to the position of CEO.
“Before the post was that of the Town Clerk” said Hullingseed, before going on to say that “with a new leader coming in…like anybody new with their own vision and their own plans [they] would want to adjust and want to restructure — to meet not just [their] needs [but] that their own plans can be implemented.”
Hullingseed then reemphasized that there is nothing substantially new about the position apart from its name and that essentially what it boils down to is a name change with minor tweaks.
“With the new Mayor coming in and with the new Board of Councilors, the position was tweaked from that of a Town Clerk, to that of CEO; but it’s not a new position.”
When asked if there are any differences between the responsibilities of the Town Clerk and those of the CEO he responded in the negative, stating:
“No not at all. [They’re] basically the same responsibilities. You oversee the entire council. You’re responsible for the day-to-day operations. You’re responsible for all the departments within council and [you] ensure that they are productive.”
He went on to say about the new CEO position that it’s “a very demanding [one]. It’s a position where you need to work hand in hand with the Mayor. You need to coordinate all the projects and what goes on within the department. It’s a wide range of work-related issues to be dealt with. [You’re] looking at the operations of Council and also you’re looking at the implementation of the majority of what Council wants to do to better the city.”
According to Hullingseed, despite the many demands the new CEO position will make on its new occupant, there is a clear distinction between the responsibilities of the CEO and those of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
Also, in regards to the legality of the switch, Hullingseed conceded that it was something that the Council considered before making a final decision. However there was nothing in the law preventing the move.
“It was a concern for them.” Hullingseed stated. However the law “would not place any barrier so to speak on them changing that position to that of a CEO [though] it was considered.”
