DIDSBURY - Former Mountain View County chief administrative officer (CAO) Tony Martens has been appointed interim CAO of the Town of Didsbury.
The three-month contract appointment follows the August resignation of past CAO Harold Northcott. Martens' appointment is effective Sept. 3.
The CAO is the top employee at the municipality, overseeing all other staff members and answerable to council.
Martens was Mountain View County's CAO for seven years before retiring in January 2018.
Martens’ contract with the Town of Didsbury runs until Nov. 15. The financial terms of the contract have not been made public.
Martens, who lives in Airdrie, was approached by the Town of Didsbury to “see if I was interested in assisting them until they hired a CAO,” he said.
“I met with the mayor and things happened and here I am. The people here are really good to work with so it makes it easy," he said.
Work will soon get underway to find a permanent CAO, he said.
“I think council will make a determination next week, at their council meeting on Sept. 10, whether they want staff to do that or whether they will hire a headhunter.”
There is no current provision in Martens’ contact to extend it beyond the three-month term, he said.
Didsbury Mayor Rhonda Hunter said Martens’ experience will be invaluable to the town.
“Tony has come out of retirement for a brief period to lead our town administrative team and look after CAO responsibilities,” said Hunter.
“We are fortunate to have secured the services of Tony, and we look forward to continuing to move this town forward with his support and municipal expertise.”
Northcott was the town’s CAO from December 2015 until Sept. 2, 2019. He has not taken a position as the CAO of Vermilion River.
Mayor Hunter commended Northcott for his past contributions to the running of the town.
