INTERIM city CAO
Hopkins will provide leadership until permanent replacement is named
Former City administrator Kathy Hopkins coming out of retirement to fill in as city manager when Garth Sherwin retires
Afamiliar face will soon be back at Lethbridge City Hall. On Monday, city council appointed Kathy Hopkins as the interim city manager. She retired from the City of Lethbridge two years ago after spending 30 years in municipal government administration, including 20 years at the senior management level, as well as experience handling community services, planning and corporate services.
Council received notice from City Manager Garth Sherwin earlier in October that he will be retiring on Jan. 3. Effective Dec. 1., Hopkins will begin serving as interim city manager until council completes its recruitment process and names a permanent replacement.
Hopkins says she has discussed the role with council members and will help ensure a smooth transition process.
“Their expectation is that I will fully act as city manager. It’s not an interim holding position, it’s with the full authority of council to fulfil the duties of the CAO,” Hopkins said, adding she has two primary items of note: one is helping to replace the city manager, and the other is to develop the strategic plan for the next four years
“I wasn’t expecting this as a comeback, but I was really excited at the opportunity. I’m surprisingly very excited to be back. It felt like the right thing to do. I think council wants some stability.”
“Most of us are familiar with her, in terms of working with her,” said Coun. Jeffrey Coffman. “She can provide that comfort to the organization that people sometimes don’t feel when you’re in a transition like this.”
Coffman will be part of an ad hoc search committee, along with Mayor Chris Spearman, Coun. Joe Mauro and Coun. Belinda Crowson, to look at the city manager bylaw and begin the process to find a permanent replacement.
“Now that we have an interim CAO coming into effect Dec. 1, the idea is to actually get on this and get the process underway to a point where we can have somebody in place hopefully by May or June,” Coffman said.
“Part of the process is going to be going through what we’re looking for in terms of desired qualities of a city manager because he or she is actually is so important to the organization. This has to be about finding the right person.”
As this will not be an easy position to fill, Spearman said they will seek out a range of possible candidates.
“It is an important appointment. We want to attract a wide group. We want the best possible person for this job,” Spearman said.
“The interim appointment is very important, as well, because it provides leadership. We’ve selected someone with more than 30 years experience with the City. She (Hopkins) has a thorough understanding of municipal administration and she will provide a steady hand at the helm of our organization during this transition period.”
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