Reynolds staff head for the exits

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This article was published 18/11/2018 (1985 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Personnel problems persist in the RM of Reynolds, where a new council is grappling with the sudden resignation of two senior administrators.

Chief administrative officer Yann Boissonneault resigned the morning after the Oct. 24 municipal election, while assistant CAO Brigitte Klem walked out Oct. 31 after arranging a Nov. 9 departure, said Reynolds reeve Trudy Turchyn.

Neither offered written reasons for their exit, Turchyn said.

Boissonneault was hired in October 2017, replacing Turchyn, who was fired two months earlier.

Reached for comment, Boissoneault said he “just decided to move forward to different opportunities.” He declined to say whether his decision was influenced by the election outcome, or by reservations about working for his predecessor.

“We were not surprised,” Turchyn said of the resignations, explaining “rumors” were circulated suggesting both would be leaving.

The municipal office in Hadashville was closed Nov. 8 due to a lack of available staff.

Turchyn was upbeat about the service interruptions, calling the resignations a “hiccup” remedied by the hiring of two replacements at a special meeting of council on Nov. 8.

Marion Grogan will serve as interim CAO, while Wendy Kozmak will be interim assistant CAO. Both have prior experience in municipal administration.

“I believe they will have things running smoothly in short order,” the reeve said.

She asked residents to be patient during the transition.

“We have some very positive things coming down the pipeline for Reynolds,” she said.

A third resignation saw Turchyn’s husband, Bert Kuypers, resign his role of building inspector to avoid future conflicts of interest, Turchyn said.

Meanwhile, a forensic audit report critical of the new reeve’s six-year tenure as CAO was removed from the municipality’s website following the election.

Boissonneault said he didn’t know who removed the report, which the previous council voted to release to the public to justify firing Turchyn.

“It was done after I resigned,” he said.

Turchyn said she excused herself from a vote the new council held on whether to take down the report, but continues to work in a personal capacity to clear her name.

“I am working on putting together documentation to prove that the accusations were all false,” she said. “I will definitely be making that public.”

The 82-page report concluded administrative functions improved and overtime claims decreased during Boissonneault’s tenure, and found timecard inconsistencies and leaks of confidential committee reports while Turchyn was CAO.