By Steve Hubrecht
Invermere is looking for a new person to lead district staff after chief administrative officer (CAO) Andrew Young departed in late July.
Young had been the District of Invermere CAO for the better part of four years, having been hired in September 2020. Young left his role earlier this summer on Friday, July 19. A week later, Invermere council convened a special meeting on July 25 and appointed longtime Invermere corporate services officer Kindry Luyendyk as the district’s acting CAO until a new permanent CAO is found. The district broadcast the news publicly last week through a Facebook post on August 1.
The Pioneer attempted to contact Invermere Mayor Al Miller for more details on Young’s departure, which to many Invermere residents was unexpected and sudden. Although the Pioneer was unable to reach Miller, deputy mayor Kayja Becker and longtime Invermere councillor Gerry Taft spoke to the situation.
Both diplomatically confirmed that “it was a mutual decision to move on” for Young and the district. Taft also debunked rumours swirling around Invermere that Young was dealing with an urgent personal medical emergency.
“We clearly appreciate the work that he (Young) did and it’s important to recognize that,” said Taft. Becker agreed and added that Invermere council was happy to have Young stay nearly four years, given that the average tenure for a CAO in British Columbia municipalities is barely two years.
Both Taft and Becker were thankful that Luyendyk has stepped up as acting CAO while the district searches for Young’s successor. It’s a role Luyendyk is familiar with, having been acting CAO for 10 months in 2020 between the departure of Young’s predecessor and the arrival of Young.
“It’s always tricky when there’s a change. Kindry did an excellent job before as acting CAO (in 2020) and it’s very helpful that she can keep us afloat in the interim,” said Becker.
“It helps us a lot (having Luyendyk as acting CAO) because it means we are not in a panicked rush to find a new CAO. It gives us some flexibility. Obviously the sooner we find someone the better, but sometimes it can take a while to find the right person,” added Taft.
“Hopefully it takes just a few months,” said Becker. “It should be a bit smoother than last time because last time the COVID-19 pandemic hit in the middle of our hiring process.”
Even so, she added, given how long the hiring process may take, and the fact that the new hire will then need to move to Invermere, it will likely be at least early 2025 before the district has a new CAO in place.
Taft noted that hiring Young took longer than normal, not only because of COVID-19, but also because the district went through two rounds of hiring; a first round led by the district that resulted in no truly qualified applicants, and a second round led by a recruiter that resulted in Young.
“So there were actually two hiring processes,” said Taft. “Hopefully we can streamline that this time around.”
Luyendyk will likely present a list of options for council to pursue in its hunt for a new CAO at the next council meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 13.
