Irricana now has a permanent chief administrative officer, as council decided in a closed meeting, Sept. 6, to hire acting CAO Alvin Melton.
After about six months in the temporary position, Melton is elated to have things settled and is looking forward to implementing some of his ideas.
“I am happy for a number of reasons,” said Melton. “The Town needs some permanencies.”
According to Mayor Josh Taylor, council interviewed a number of applicants, but determined Melton was the best candidate for the job.
“I am very pleased,” said Taylor.
“I think he is an asset for the town and hopefully he comes with new ideas.”
Taylor said Melton gets along well with staff, does an outstanding job with the accounts, and is very intelligent and willing to learn. He expects Melton will help set a strategic direction for the Town.
Annette Culp, Irricana’s development officer, said the move will help staff in their daily operations.
“It is always beneficial to have good leadership at the top,” said Culp.
“(The CAO) is the go-between for administration and council. Without that, communication breaks down.”
Melton has a wealth of knowledge and experience and his amiable personality makes him easy to work with, added Culp.
Melton has worked as a teacher, a project analyst for the Province of B.C. and in the University of Calgary’s faculty of medicine as the manager of the project management office.
He has a Masters of Business Administration and five years of upper management experience, including three years as CAO of Mountain View Senior Housing.
“Because he doesn’t live here, he has fresh eyes on everything,” said Culp.
“And he questions why do we do things, the way we do them, and that translates into new opportunities to find efficiencies.”
Melton said his first order of business will be to get a long-term planning strategy in place, something necessary before next year’s budget to avoid “ad hoc spending.”
“I think that will bring cohesiveness to council… and alleviate some of the fears and misconceptions of the residents as well,” he said. “We want to start going down a road to prosperity.”
