Leadership From Within

Jeff Green | Apr 24, 2024

When Frontenac County announced last week that their new Chief Administrative Officer was an internal hire, Kevin Farrell, it came as a bit of a surprise, but it probably shouldn’t have.

In 2016, after seeing 9 different appointees as Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) in 9 years, culminating in a three-month long tenure for Jim Zimmerman as CAO and Public Works Manager, Central Frontenac decided that the solution to their revolving door problem may have been there all along, and appointed then Clerk/Planning Coordinator Cathy MacMunn to the role. And 9 years later, MacMunn is still there.

Well before Cheryl Robson retired in North Frontenac at the end of 2021, her successor, Cory Klatt, was being mentored for the role, and the transition was pretty seamless.

South Frontenac opted for an external appointment, Neil Carbone, when former CAO Wayne Orr retired in 2019. Carbone initiated a lot of changes in the township, starting with a branding initiative, and left within two years for a job in Kingston. When he left, the township went internal, appointing the Treasurer Louise Fragnito on an interim basis immediately, and on a permanent basis shortly after that. Fragnito is still in place, and very popular with Council.

There are a lot of reasons why promoting from within for senior positions is a good idea, especially for small, rural municipalities. For one thing, there are less surprises that way. Even with the use of a consulting firm to vet candidates, it is very hard to know what the impact of a new hire will be on an organisation, and an internal hire does not carry that level of risk. Secondly, the chances of an internal hire using the title of CAO as a springboard to a similar role in a larger centre is much diminished.

The only drawback is that a new set of eyes can bring a dynamism to the role, and perhaps initiate more dramatic changes than someone who is familiar with the role of the organisation and would be more inclined to work at improving and fine tuning the existing operation rather than making changes.

The councils that oversee the Frontenac townships and county are essentially conservative in nature, however, and are not inclined to see themselves as agents of change. They see their main role as providing a prescribed set of services while trying to keep taxes in check.

When Frontenac County Council hired Kelly Pender in 2014, it was at a turbulent time in its political history, in the wake of a decision by then Warden Janet Gutowski not to resign as warden, when her year was up, partly in order to protect the agenda of then CAO Liz Savill. An outside appointee, with experience at the CAO level, was seen as a necessity at that time. That, and the fact that Pender wanted to come back to his home region for the latter part of his career, made for a good fit. The fact that he remained for almost exactly ten years is likely no coincidence, but an aspect of career planning.

To then hire someone who is the number one efficiency expert on the county staff to replace Pender, doubly signals that what Frontenac County Council members are looking for is stability, and value for money for the ratepayers back home in their own townships.

All in all, it appears that, like in their own townships, hiring from within will pay off.