Mayor's office staffing hits a bump - one of the three moves on to greener grass.

News 100 redBy Pepper Parr

July 18th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Put the best spin possible on the situation and bull on through it is about all you can do.

Six months into her term of office and the Mayor loses one of her staff or as the Mayor put it in her announcement:

“There’s been some recent changes in the Mayor’s Office — I’m looking for an Executive Administrator to help fill an opening on my team of three staffers.

“My former assistant Annemarie Cumber has taken an opportunity for career advancement and a secondment to assist with large corporate projects, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Enterprise Asset Management Solution (EAMS), at the City of Burlington. We wish her the best of luck and success in her new role.

“I have asked my former assistant from my time as a councillor, Georgie Gartside, to help us out in the Mayor’s Office during this transition phase. We are very grateful for her assistance — she is a true asset and great addition to the Mayor’s team. I also want to thank the Councillors’ Assistants team who are working together to provide coverage in the councillors’ offices during this time.

In addition, we’re very grateful for the time and dedication high school co-op student Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick has been lending us this month. Kaitlyn is assisting my office until Aug. 2 and has been doing very well in the time she’s spent with us already. I thank my office staff and City of Burlington staff for making her feel welcome and a part of our team.

Mayor-Office_Interior-768x576

The Office of the Mayor – she got to choose the colours.

“The Mayors Office Executive Administrator position is posted online on the City of Burlington’s website and is a contract position from September 2019-November 2022 — the posting closing date is July 30, 2019. Please click the links for more details.

“Reporting directly to the Mayor’s Chief of Staff the Mayor’s Executive Administrator will provide administrative, communications, logistics and constituent relations support to the Office of the Mayor. By managing the Mayor’s schedule, overseeing incoming communications and requests, providing event support, and liaising with constituents, internal staff and external partners, this role is essential in contributing to the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the Office of the Mayor.

“We’re looking for someone who thrives in challenging environments and can juggle many balls at the same time. You are comfortable interacting with people and don’t mind being out in the public eye. You are empathetic, diplomatic, a great problem-solver and can work independently and confidently, while making sound judgement calls on a host of matters.”

There has been an interesting upgrade to the titles that are used in the office of the Mayor. The last time we talked to Victoria Al-Samadi she was Mayor’s Chief of Communications & Strategic Advisor; now she is referred to as the Chief of Staff .

Also, what’s with the secondment?  Our understanding of the term is; “The term secondment describes where an employee or a group of employees is assigned on a temporary basis to work for another, ‘host’ organization, or a different part of their employer’s organization. On expiry of the secondment term, the employee (the ‘secondee’) will ‘return’ to their original employer.”

The job opening is posted on the city’s web site

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1 comment to Mayor’s office staffing hits a bump – one of the three moves on to greener grass.

  • Penny Hersh

    With Georgie Gartside now working in the Mayor’s Office, what happens to Councillor Stolte? Georgie was assigned as Shawna’s assistant. I worked with Georgie when she was assistant to then Councillor Marianne Meed-Ward. Georgie is a pleasure to work with.