Hard exit

Council parts ways with CAO after he refuses to rehire roads supervisor

Council gathered in a special closed session on Friday to officially part ways with its Chief Administrative Officer Merlin Dewing.

James Hepburn, the County’s Director of Finance, assumes Dewing’s responsibilities, effective immediately, until a successor is found.

The cost of the settlement was not released— Dewing had 19 months left on his contract.

A statement issued by Mayor Robert Quaiff says council and Dewing came to the conclusion that “his leadership approach no longer aligns with the vision the current Council has for the County of Prince Edward.”

Even as it was sending Dewing packing, council acknowledged the CAO had done his job well.

“We are grateful for the contributions Dewing has made during his term as CAO,” said Quaiff in the statement. “His assertive guidance led the County through many difficult but necessary changes.”

WHAT DEWING DID
Merlin Dewing was hired in 2011, with a mandate to examine, assess and evaluate the County’s business from top to bottom, something that hadn’t happened since the 10 townships, villages and towns were amalgamated into one municipality in 1998.

When he questioned why something was done a certain way, Dewing said the most common response he heard was, “because that’s the way we’ve always done it.”

Just weeks into the job, Dewing outlined his plan, promising to take the steps necessary to realign the County’s organization with its stated objectives, develop a new corporate strategic plan, implement a rigorous budget review, streamline council meetings, delegate authority for routine decision-making to County staff, implement an accountable and transparent purchasing policy and develop better personnel policies aimed at recruiting and retaining high-calibre staff, including enhanced training and career mobility within the organization.

What followed was a massive restructuring of the County’s business, conducted over five phases.

He began at the top, consolidating management under two commissioners—Susan Turnbull and Robert McAuley. Two commissioner positions were eliminated. He developed a corporate-wide succession plan and acting CAO program.

Then he turned to the staffing ranks. When he was done, 44 jobs had been eliminated and 29 new jobs created. Altogether, the changes reduced about $1.1 million from the County’s overhead costs.

He developed a plan aimed at steering the municipality away from the financial cliff it was careening toward. He laid out a plan to cut costs, streamline services and sell non-core assets. He also undertook to negotiate collective agreements directly, with a focus on enhancing operational flexibility. No longer was this responsibility farmed out to outside facilitators without a stake in this community.

He began rebuilding the County’s reserves— taking savings from overhead and putting it away to repair and replace the municipality’s crumbling infrastructure.

He challenged community groups to take ownership of town halls, museums and libraries—or risk losing them.

Finally, he developed and implemented leading- edge training and development programs aimed at improving the skills of County staff while encouraging upward growth and mobility. Last May, the County was recognized by the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators for its innovative Career Development program Dewing implemented.

DRIVING GROWTH
Merlin Dewing arrived at Shire Hall just months after the County’s economic development officer, Dan Taylor, had had left for Peterborough.

Underfunded and almost constantly under attack for its inability to attract high-paying factory jobs, the department was in tatters when Taylor left.

Dewing developed a plan to rebuild, refund and renew the organization. To do this, he had to take it apart and rebuild it.

Today, the Community Development Office, headed by Neil Carbone—who was recruited by Dewing—is a successful promoter, facilitator and catalyst of business, tourism and investment in the County. The department has developed its own strategic plan, winning broad-based support from council and business and community groups. At the end of last year, the County was identified by a widely read US-based travel magazine as one of the places to visit in 2015, from among destinations around the world.

Dewing also spearheaded the County’s Age-in-Place strategy. Responding to the demographic challenge of an aging population and a lack of residential housing options, Dewing undertook a strategy to attract investment—specifically on 24 acres the municipality owned around the HJM McFarland Nursing Home, north of Picton.

For perhaps the first time the municipality was proactively working to solve a looming issue, rather than reacting to its aftermath.

Currently, a 144-unit seniors’ residence, featuring an indoor garden and atrium, is rising out of the ground. It will offer County residents a safe, comfortable way to stay in their chosen community. And soon, the Prince Edward Family Health Team will begin to build a new clinic on the Age-in-Place land.

CHANGE IS HARD
Despite many achievements, Dewing made many folks unhappy, both in and out of Shire Hall—especially as the list of disgruntled ex-employees grew longer. The chorus of folks who complained about his salary, vacation time and the piano in his office— salvaged before it went to landfill—grew louder with each lost job.

Neighbours of the McFarland home joined with the families of some residents to fight the development of lands behind the facility. When two administrators from the McFarland home were dismissed after a ministry report pointed to a pattern of care issues and poor record keeping, the call for Dewing’s head grew even louder.

These complaints found a receptive audience with some members of council. With the corporate realignment complete, Dewing begun to rework the relationship between council and staff—drawing a clear line between governance (council’s role) and administration (staff’s job). This did little to endear him to these council members

They refused to let go. They liked having cozy access to staff—the ability to circumvent process and policy. Undeterred, the CAO continued to usher council members toward the job of governance and away from the day-to-day business of managing staff.

Several councillors ran in the last municipal election with a vow to take back council—promising to remove management authority from the CAO and staff and return it to council.

After a lengthy and difficult budget deliberation was completed in December, it seemed the new council might learn to co-exist with Dewing. Council even managed to hammer out a list of priorities for the CAO.

TURNING POINT
But all that changed a couple of weeks ago. A roads crew member was injured while on the job in Ameliasburgh. Two roads supervisors were sacked as a result.

Councillor Kevin Gale responded angrily to the terminations. He sent an email to County employees asking, “who’s next?”

At Tuesday’s council meeting Gale and others urged Dewing to rehire the senior roads supervisor. Dewing refused.

Gale emailed the CAO the following morning, insisting it was in the County’s best interest to rehire the roads supervisor. Once again, Dewing refused.

Later that morning, Mayor Quaiff announced that a special closed-door council meeting would be held on Friday to consider Dewing’s fate.

Rather than fight, Dewing sat down with Quaiff to negotiate the terms of his exit. The deal was already done by the time council met on Friday to ratify it.

“We have reached a decision that Dewing’s leadership style no longer aligns with Council’s preferred corporate administration approach,” said Quaiff in a statement, afterward.

Asked how much the settlement agreement will cost County taxpayers, Quaiff responded, “no comment.”

He said the two roads employees have not been given their old jobs back.

Asked to assess the likely impact of Dewing’s departure on recruiting a new CAO, Quaiff responded with a terse, “none.”