Kelly Pender - a steady hand on the Frontenac County tiller

Jeff Green | Jun 12, 2014

After five weeks on the job, fresh from his daughter’s wedding in Calgary, Kelly Pender seems to be relaxed and happy about taking on the CAO position in Frontenac County.

He is certainly aware - and this was likely made clear during the hiring process, which was wholly controlled by members of county council - that there has been an unprecedented level of mistrust of the county’s senior staff among at least some council members.

But if that phases him he is not letting on. He said, “I have seen a lot in 30 years in municipal government and each council has its own specific character. Thus far, everybody's been very welcoming, council and staff, and I have appreciated their attitude. It's been a busy five weeks, and I think now the learning curve is starting to flatten out.”

He said the unique geography of the county, which runs from moose country in Vennachar to the border with New York State on Wolfe Island, as well as the limited number of county services in relation to township services, “is certainly different from what I dealt with in my previous roles in Belleville, Perth or Huntsville, but each county has its own arrangements, which are all unique. The Ontario Municipal Act allows for different service delivery models and the Frontenac one was developed by the politicians in Frontenac County to suit its own reality.”

He said that initiatives by the public works departments of the four townships in waste management, roads and bridge maintenance, represent a high level of co-operation between the townships. “We have our sustainability planner, Joe Gallivan, attending meetings of the public works managers, but there is no need for the county to take any role in service delivery. The townships provide excellent service as it is.”

Looking forward, he said the county strategic planning process, which is wrapping up, will identify around three strategic goals, “but it will be up to the next council to decide if they want to follow through with those goals. The plan identifies goals, but goals require finances to become reality, and that will be up to the new council. A goal without money is merely a wish.”

He also said that the new County Official Plan, which has been completed in draft form and sent on to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs for comment, will be a factor in the future role of the County.

In terms of economic development, Pender said, “What is required is a made in Frontenac County solution. What was done in Muskoka [where he worked for the past six years] or in Prince Edward County, will not work in Frontenac County.”

It will require input from the local communities, he said, but the county can play a co-ordinating and management role. “We have assets in Frontenac County, the beauty of the land, the trail and road network, a strong local food movement - all the elements are there and there needs to be a made in Frontenac plan for economic development for it to work.”

As for his own future, the first order of business will be to sell the house in Huntsville that he owns with his wife Rosemary. With their children recently gone, they are not sure whether they will be looking for a house in Kingston or in a rural location, perhaps in Frontenac County.

“We have lived in urban and rural locations and have enjoyed both. We'll have to see once our house sells,” he said.

One of the appeals of the job in Frontenac County was the location. The Penders have lived in Belleville and Perth as well as Marmora and Huntsville as Kelly moved from a job as a planning co-ordinator in Belleville to CAO of the Crowe Valley Conservation Authority in Marmora before stints as CAO in both Perth and Huntsville.

Although this is his first job as a county administrator he says, “I have worked most of my careers under the Ontario Municipal Act, which applies to counties and towns in equal measure.”