A week ago, Michael Merritt, the Chief Administrative Officer for the CBRM blindsided our council by quitting.

For months he had been secretly pursuing another job opportunity in Olds, Alberta, but kept Mayor Clarke and the CBRM council in the dark about his new ambitions right up to the last minute. He was up against the clock on a three month notice requirement in his CBRM contract.

Clarke knew first, but didn't relay the information immediately to councillors, including Deputy Mayor Eldon MacDonald. He was surprised by both the resignation, and the realization of how quickly Merritt was leaving.

Despite making over $185,000 a year, and serving less than 3 years on the job, Merritt's now cashing out his banked up weeks of vacation and leaving us high and dry with no transitory period.

That is something we might expect from a student burger flipper making minimum wage at McDonald's, but much less so from the top ranking, highest paid executive in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. With the latter, one might expect a little more professional courtesy in the form of notice well in advance.

For those critical of many moves made by the CBRM during Cecil Clarke's time as mayor, losing Merritt may be more of an opportunity than a setback. His surprise resignation seems to be a reflection of the type of perceived secrecy that caused concern for those keeping track of our municipal operations.

We still lack insight into how the John Whalley lawsuit against the CBRM will play out. Merritt himself is a key player in the situation leading up to Whalley's alleged constructive dismissal and that case is still unresolved.

In terms of positive steps forward, we should consider eliminating his entire salary from our annual expenses, and bringing in someone more qualified to manage the CBRM's affairs. This someone might even be an expert in our finances. By doing so, we can avoid a prolonged hunt for a replacement, and nix any headhunter fees.

After all, the result of doing so the last time caused us to get someone like Merritt who came at a cost of about $45,000 more per year than the previous CAO, Jerry Ryan. And now he's dropping the ball on us.

Yes, the featured image already gave it away. That "someone more qualified" I mentioned above is Marie Walsh. She already served as interim CAO after the retirement of Jerry Ryan, and she wanted the job, but was turned down.

Councillor Darren Bruckschwaiger called it a "slap in the face", and I suspect that may well have been how the rejection was perceived by Walsh.

Let's hope she doesn't refuse to take on the interim role when Mayor Clarke has to sheepishly ask her to do so again. Perhaps an apology (sincere or otherwise) is in order.

Here's the key to turning Merritt's surrendering of the role into a positive:

• Appoint Walsh as the interim CAO immediately.
• Skip the headhunting. Post the job competition on a few key executive job listing sites or major newspapers and vet the candidates on our own.
• Fix the salary at $155,000 per year - which is approximately what Walsh is currently earning, and more than the previous CAO, Jerry Ryan.
• Accelerate the hiring timeline.
• Though we should reject any predetermined job competitions, the reality is that Walsh will have true qualifications that rival or exceed those of any applicant by virtue of her years as a top ranking executive at the CBRM, and previous interim CAO role.
• However, if someone who is truly more qualified applies, then hire them. However, we must use Merritt as a cautionary precedent for realizing that years on the job isn't the only qualifying criteria.

The next steps are based on the very high probability that Walsh will turn out to be the most qualified:

• When Walsh takes on the CAO role, she maintains her Financial Director duties. In reality, she was probably doing much of the hard work on behalf of the CAO all along (TBD; only CBRM insiders can confirm).
• The CFO role is eliminated. This cuts $185,000 per year from our expenditures.

Of course, this solution isn't without it's own caveats. By 2018, Walsh would have to be a key decision maker in terminating the contract of her sister, Marlene Usher, who is the handpicked CEO of the Port of Sydney Development Corporation.

Since Mayor Clarke and Merritt convinced council to take the multi-billion dollar shipping container project away from the port corporation, the likely only justification for keeping Usher in the role is her contract expiration date.

After all, for a small operation, it already has redundant levels of executive management with GM Paul Carrigan and the quite competent Manager of Cruise Marketing and Development, Bernadette McNeil.

Carrigan recently did Usher's job presenting their annual budget to council and looked comfortable in the role. He communicates and engages with the community more proactively; is a more confident and competent speaker; would be more than up to the challenge of the role; and his background with Mayflower Mall management will qualify him to understand the importance of paying lease payments.

Marie Walsh also just so happens to be among the most clearly qualified candidates for mayor of the CBRM. However, unless Mayor Clarke is successful in his current bid to give himself a $20,000 raise, the mayor's salary won't be very appealing to an expert in finance like Walsh. She already has a very secure and lucrative pathway to retirement. A pay cut to take on a more public facing role might be a tough sell.

However, please don't lament my prediction against Walsh giving the CBRM a female mayor. With her as CAO, and considering the smart, passionate, progressive young women that are making their presence known at the CBRM council, the 2020 election could result in two women securing the most influencial positions in the Municipality. The thought of let's say McDougall / Walsh is certainly much more exciting than Clarke / Merritt.

Walsh as CAO. __________ as Mayor. And, no, the blank isn't Usher. From my perspective, that would be a tremendous mistake. However, there are other options to get excited about. If you have someone in mind, comment below to spark the discussion (McDougall, Coombes, Shea, McCarron).

For more on Merritt's resignation, see the Cape Breton Spectator's report here. It's available to subscribers now, and will be open to all on Wednesday, April 12th.

NOTE: The views expressed above are my own and do not represent lokol (goCapeBreton.com). Read more