The District of Sooke is looking for a new corporate officer, after Gabryel Joseph announced he will be leaving his position at the end of the month.
Joseph made the announcement earlier this week, and the posting for a new corporate officer was posted on Tuesday, though no reason for his abrupt departure was provided.
“I or the district will not comment on an HR matter," Joseph told the Sooke Mirror.
The official announcement was made by the district’s chief administrative officer Teresa Sullivan, who highlighted the importance of district staff having some flexibility in scenarios such as this.
“Right now our corporate officer is moving on,” Sullivan told council on Wednesday night during the first budget deliberation meeting. “I need the flexibility to get somebody in here to do that job, because I certainly can’t do the corporate officer job and the chief administrative officer job all at the same time.”
Sullivan added that while the position has been posted for two weeks, there’s going to be a gap between when the corporate officer leaves or before he leaves, or when the district hires hires a new corporate officer.
The “flexibility” in question would come from the district’s operating contingency, which is something “that’s fairly new” in the district.
“It’s something that corporations and other levels of government do quite often to provide flexibility of staff to deal with things that are operational in nature,” Sullivan said.
In another case a staff person was off for two months, and district staff needed the flexibility to hire someone into that position on a temporary basis.
“That was to make sure that we are continuing to meet service delivery and requirements of the district and the residents,” Sullivan said. “I’m sure it’s going to be a little controversial, but at the same time, it’s our job to move the business of the district forward.”
Joseph was hired on by the district in February 2016 to replace former corporate officer Bonnie Sprinkling, who quit in a matter of weeks following the departure of finance director Michael Dillabaugh and municipal engineer Elisabeth Nelson.