GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT
New communications officer for CBRM mayor’s office
New communications officer for CBRM mayor’s office.
A former local radio personality has been hired to assist the mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality with his communications needs.
Although some of the position’s details have yet to be worked out and the contract must still be signed, Sheilah MacDonald started familiarizing herself with city hall on Monday.
The Cape Breton native, who is a graduate of Loyalist College in Belleville, Ont., spent most of the previous eight years with Newcap Radio’s New Country 103.5. Previous to that, MacDonald spent seven years with The Weather Network as an editor and technical director.
Her hiring comes approximately six months after Mayor Cecil Clarke’s former communications adviser Christina Lamey resigned to become the manager of cruise marketing and development at the Port of Sydney Development Corporation. Prior to her six-year stint in the mayor’s office, Lamey was the communications director of Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservative Caucus. Lamey was hired by Clarke shortly after he was elected mayor in late 2012. At the time of her appointment, the position came with an annual salary of $75,000 per year.
Clarke was out of town on business and was unavailable for comment.
But, according to
CBRM communications and information officer
Jillian Moore, MacDonald won’t exactly be replacing
Lamey. She said MacDonald’s new job is a month-to-month, short term position “to assist with the mayor’s office communications needs”.
Moore said the new position is equivalent to the administrator confidential position, which pays an annual salary of $59,904.
According to the CBRM job description, the main functions of the mayor’s office’s communications officer are assisting with all mayor’s office and council communications functions, assisting the mayor in his role as official spokesperson of the CBRM, working with other departments as needed, writing and editing communications materials and developing social media content along with a host of other related duties.
The team at the mayor’s office also includes Clarke’s executive assistant ,Mark Bettens.