Duane Hicks
Fort Frances will have a new chief administrative officer effective July 4.
Doug Brown, who currently is the town’s manager of Operations and Facilities, will replace outgoing CAO Mark McCaig, who’s been in the post since May 1, 2004.
The town received 35 applications for the position, then narrowed it down to a short list of 12.
After tasking the short-list candidates with a written deliverable, council then began a thorough interview process.
Brown ultimately was chosen unanimously.
“When it got right down to the short list, we had some very good applications from out-of-town as well as in town,” Mayor Avis noted yesterday.
“We’ve always felt people that are working for the town should have the opportunity for promotion within the organization if they’re capable and have the right credentials for the job,” he added.
“And so therefore council decided that Doug Brown would be our best fit.
“Doug has spent 13 years with the town,” Mayor Avis said.
“I was on the hiring committee when we hired Doug 13 years ago, and I’ve worked with him as chairman of the Operations and Facilities executive committee and also as the mayor.
“Doug is a very passionate and committed individual, and he really respects and likes Fort Frances,” the mayor added.
“I feel very confident that as time progresses, he will become a perfect fit for the CAO of our community.”
Mayor Avis added council is happy with how the town is operating—and hopes residents feel the same way.
He also believes there will be “a smooth transition” in leadership from McCaig to Brown.
Mayor Avis said the management staff is very receptive to the change in CAO, given they’ve worked with Brown and everyone knows where each other stands.
“And Doug is very, very strong in financing and projects, which are a big part of the role of CAO,” he stressed.
Brown has been manager of Operations and Facilities since July 28, 2003.
“I would like to personally thank mayor and council for providing me with the opportunity to be the chief administrative officer for this great organization,” Brown said in a release from the mayor’s desk yesterday.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the community [and] all members of our organization, including the many dedicated volunteers that have contributed to making Fort Frances a better place to live,” he added.
Of course, council now will have find a new manager of Operations and Facilities.
“There is a domino effect and we’re going to have to look at that,” conceded Mayor Avis.
“As long as I’ve been mayor, we’ve always looked at trying to groom people for certain positions, and we’ll probably offer Doug’s job internally first,” he noted.
“If we don’t have a suitable candidate in-house, then we’ll go external.
“But we did go external on the CAO’s job because we felt very strongly that we wanted to make sure we got the right candidate for the job,” the mayor said.
