New CAO, clerk now on duty at Mulmur town hall
CAO Tracey Atkinson and clerk Kerstin Vroom are in their new roles at town hall in Mulmur as of this week.
The retirement of Terry Horner, who was both CAO and clerk, has precipitated a change up in roles at the municipal office.
Atkinson, who has been a part-time planner in Mulmur since 2014, has stepped into the top job but will continue to fill her planning duties as well. The hope is that by separating out the clerk duties, shifting them to former deputy clerk-treasurer, there will be enough days in the week to get everything done.
“We are in a state of change,” said Atkinson. “There will be some adjustments to the new division of roles and we are confident we have the team in place to continue to serve the community well.”
She said Mulmur has a great staff, everyone is getting new tasks and the plan is to keep everything running smoothly.
Atkinson has 20 years of experience in a wide range of planning work. She is a Clearview resident who grew up on a farm, and currently lives on a farm, so she said she understands farming applications and process relevant to a rural municipality. “Some might say that brings some compassion to the role,” she said.
Before working in Mulmur, Atkinson worked in Grand Valley and in the private sector so she has experience on both sides of the process. As for the CAO duties, that is new to her and she is happy to have an experienced staff.
Vroom has been with Mulmur for more than eight years and has lived in the area for almost 30 years. The clerk is also responsible for preparing council agendas and making sure council follows the procedural bylaw.
Her biggest role in the upcoming months is to execute the municipal election.
Vroom will spearhead the nomination process and oversee voting – which will be done online and by telephone again this year.
“We are putting out a push for more councillors because a race does get people engaged,” said Vroom.
There is already a race for the position of mayor and deputy mayor in Mulmur but at least one more nominee for councillor is needed to fill the three seats.
Once nominations close on July 27, the clerk’s focus will turn to ensuring the voters list is correct and everyone is well aware of the voting process and equipped with their voter card.
Vroom said people don’t realize that if they own property in more than one municipality they can vote for council members in each, so people with second properties in Mulmur should have their say.
Voter information is posted online at Mulmur.ca.
