Steven Brown joined municipal staff in February 2021. (File photo/battlefordsNOW)

By Derek Cornet

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La Ronge CAO resigns after less than a year on the job

Nov 25, 2021 | 12:37 PM

After less than 10 months on the job, Steven Brown is leaving his role as La Ronge’s chief administrative officer.

He submitted his resignation on Oct. 28 and he will officially leave his position on Dec. 3. In his resignation letter to council, he stated he needed to ensure his health and family comes first before work. larongeNOW reached out to Brown, but didn’t receive a response by publishing.

“I think we are looking at least a six to 12-month recruitment period,” said La Ronge Mayor Colin Ratushniak. “There’s not a large pool to pull from.”

Brown joined the town back in February after being recruited by HMC Management, which had been leading municipal affairs since October 2019. Before that, bylaw officer Robbie Bender was the acting-CAO having taken over duties from Stephen Conway, who also didn’t stay in the role very long.

Ratushniak believes it can take up to one year to replace Brown due to a lack of people with his credentials, difficulties recruiting employees to move to northern Saskatchewan and housing availability. He said the salary for the position is on par for the responsibilities and even a little higher to motivate people to stay.

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Although Brown submitted his resignation nearly one month ago, council hasn’t been able to plan for his exit because a vote to accept his resignation failed to pass. Ratushniak, deputy-mayor Jordan McPhail and Coun. Abby Besharah all voted to accept it, while councillors Joe Hordyski, Viviana Ruiz-Arcand and Ryan Veteri opposed it. The town is still short one councillor because of the passing of Hugh Watt earlier this year.

“I quite don’t understand the divide there,” Ratushniak said. “If someone gives resignation, to me that’s their prerogative to do so, so I don’t know why council would be neglecting to accept a resignation that seemed eminent, so that we can move forward.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno