Lac La Biche County council has voted to fire the municipal CAO.
In a closed-door decision early Tuesday evening, council chose to terminate the contract of Chief Administrative Officer Shadia Amblie. The decision was made officially in short public session of the meeting, and is effective immediately.
"First of all, I'd like to thank Shadia for her years of service as CAO and as a municipal employee. She's been with the county for a long time," Lac La Biche County Mayor Omer Moghrabi told the POST on Tuesday night.
Amblie, who took on the CAO role permanently in July of 2015 had been operating as the interim CAO for almost two years after the previous chief administrator was dismissed.
Moghrabi said the decision to immediately end her contract was not a unanimous one. The mayor voted against the decision along with at least two other councillors, but he would not discuss who they were. Since much of the hour-long discussion leading up to the firing was held behind closed doors the information is privileged, said the mayor.
He did say that the dismissal was made without cause, meaning that a severance package and other financial obligations could be paid out.
"Yes, there are contracts we have that are binding. So legal teams will be getting together with legal teams," he said, adding that he was taken by surprise when the discussion began during the in-camera session that followed a seven-hour regular council meeting. "It was surprising. I was not aware this was going to happen. That's for sure. I think there were others also."
As of 9:30 Tuesday night, the POST has reached out to a few members on council. So far none have returned calls for an interview.
UPDATE: story updated at 10:15 pm. to include councillor Moore's comment.
Lac La Biche County councillor Charlyn Moore did return a call on Tuesday night. Apart from saying she "voted for a change in leadership," she said she couldn't comment at this time out of respect for the outgoing CAO.
• STORY: Not Unanimous decision
• Original hiring story
• PRESS RELEASE
• Cote says decision wasn't easy
What now?
With Amblie gone, the CAO role will be filled temporarily by current county manager Dan Small.
"All County services and programs will proceed as planned," said the mayor, but choosing not to answer the question of how the community will react to the surprise decision and the optics it lends to the council itself. "I think some people will ask that question, they'll ask what is happening."
The mayor wouldn't answer it, only saying that there is no dysfunction on council or in the administration of the municipality.
"We've got a pretty good administration ... and council is in the middle of budget. We've got a job to do. We have a ship to steer," he said, adding that a special council meeting will be held in the coming days to determine the next step with legal advice and making plans to begin a hiring process.
The mayor and several senior members of the administrative staff were at the municipality's head offices late on Tuesday, informing other staff of the dismissal and creating a media release.
