NIPAWIN — Nipawin council voted to terminate the contract of its Chief Administrative Officer, Joel Cardinal.
The decision was made at a special council meeting on Aug. 3.
"Council felt a change in direction is needed at this time," said a release from the town. "Council has appointed [assistant Chief Administrative Officer] Michele Sorenson as the interim Chief Administrative Officer. All projects and levels of service are expected to be maintained."
The town said council will discuss how it will move forward at its Aug. 14 council meeting.
Sorenson said that it is too early to know what the exact financial impact of the termination will be for the Town of Nipawin.
Cardinal was hired on Jan. 3, 2023. Previous to Cardinal being the Town of Nipawin CAO, Michelle Sorenson was hired but had to take a step back due to personal reasons. Previous to Sorenson, the Town of Nipawin had contracted Michelle Cruise-Pratchler as interim CAO and prior to Cruise-Pratchler, the CAO was Barry Elliott, who was in the job for six years before accepting another administrator position for the Town of Maple Creek.
This is not the only recent change at the town. On July 10, Rennie Harper resigned as mayor, saying in her resignation letter that it was increasingly challenging to be effective in the role. The mayor was the subject of a code of conduct investigation initiated by Nipawin's town council. The result of the investigation has not been released to the public.
The decision on when the byelection to replace her will be held at the Aug. 14 regular council.
