Local Government Role Descriptions
The Role of the CAO
Key Roles of the CAO
The roles and responsibilities of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) are foundational to the success of the Council, the City and the administration. This role is multifaceted and complex and challenging for any seasoned administrator.
The principal roles of a CAO are two-fold: a) advise the Council on all business issues on every agenda; and b) ensure that the administration carries out all the decisions of this Council. While there are a multitude of other responsibilities (both legislated and set by CAO Bylaw), these two need to be performed well if the others are to matter.
- Advisor to the Mayor
The Mayor-CAO relationship is a special one. While the Mayor is one of Council, everyone recognizes that there is only one Mayor and their responsibilities are considerable. S/he needs to have ongoing access to the CAO to ensure that both are on the same page and acting in unison. While daily meetings might be held as needed, it would also be important to schedule weekly meetings to ensure both are briefed on the key issues and the upcoming Council agenda issues.
Where the Mayor is planning to meet with other regional leaders or those of Provincial or federal parties, s/he should be well-briefed by the CAO and likely accompanied by the CAO to any key meetings.
This is not intended to describe a “boss-employee” relationship but more that of a collegial, respectful one.
- Policy Advice and Information to Council
Council needs to be able to rely on the CAO for quality advice on all agenda matters. These are issues with which the Council is expected to be concerned and which may well affect other aspects of how well the municipality functions. Council members are not expected to have in-depth familiarity with many of the key issues which will face the municipality. These might be familiar to a particular department head or supervisor but highly unlikely that an elected Council will have had much contact with some of the more specialized issues such as drainage, solid waste sites, pipelines, planning subdivisions, erecting newly designed playground structures, etc. Such issues morph into even more sophisticated topics such as regional planning, transit, annexations, etc.
On these and a multitude of other administrative issues the CAO is expected to grasp the basics such that a reasonable explanation can be provided to Council and an appropriate policy decision sought. Even though the Council does not need to understand the nuances involved, the policy implications have to be described sufficiently such that Council can discern the potential impacts of implementing this or that policy.
Other matters which the CAO will present to this Council might not require a new or amended policy but are no less significant. Such matters might relate to a Provincial law being considered which will impact the municipality or a new regulation which might place added costs on its finances. In every such instance, the CAO is expected to be alert to the potential impacts on the municipality and aware of the need for the Mayor and Council to be promptly informed.
Leadership to the Administration
The CAO is expected to play the predominant role in acting as the team leader of the administration. In this respect, he/she acts as the key linkage between the policymakers on the one hand and the policy advisors and implementers of policy on the other. The CAO represents the narrow portion of the hourglass in that information and advice going to Council needs to be cleared through his/her office whereas the direction from Council and guidance on how the will of Council is to be discharged also flows downward from the CAO.
The CAO needs to have a thorough knowledge of the programs and services offered by the municipality. While the CAO should not be expected to be the expert in such matters where there are qualified staff leading those departments, the CAO still needs to be sufficiently briefed as to the key issues being faced by each department and/or service area.
The CAO is also responsible for directing/choosing who is to be hired in the key senior positions in the organization. Any position reporting to the CAO should be hired by the CAO. Any position reporting directly to a department head should, with few exceptions, be reviewed and approved for hiring by the CAO. The request for new positions should be approved by the CAO as should a recommendation to change the organization structure (such a change would also require the endorsement of the Council. The decision as to the number of departments reporting to the CAO should be the purview of Council). Those populating all such positions should be the responsibility of the CAO.
While not a responsibility to be grasped easily and readily, the CAO is also accountable for the behaviour of his/her direct reports. S/He must maintain an awareness of what they are doing and whether or not their decisions are within the scope of their respective mandates. S/He also needs to have their antennae sharpened so as to be sensitive to any choices by the senior managers which might reflect alterations in their personal behaviour. Collectively the CAO and direct reports set the “tone at the top” from an administrative point of view. As a consequence, their treatment of others must reflect fairness and professionalism in all instances.
It is also predictable that issues will arise between departments related to authority, mandates and control. Where these lead to friction, the CAO needs to be sufficiently strong and confident to step in and bring about resolution.
From time to time, the CAO might see the need to orchestrate departmental restructuring so as to bring about greater synergy in the use of resources. These types of changes seldom occur without some degree of unease and possibly pushback. (At times, this might reach the ears of members of Council who may feel inclined to get personally involved. While tempting, this is not the mandate of Council.)
Whereas Council might feel like it is receiving reports on various administrative decisions or proposals direct from individual departments, those reports will have been endorsed by the CAO or they will not reach Council’s agenda. To do otherwise is to invite Council to begin managing departments. The CAO’s initials on reports going to Council are absolutely essential so that Council knows that it is receiving the best advice that the administration can provide (not simply the best that one department in isolation can provide).
- Relationship Building
A key role for the CAO is the need to work diligently at building solid, lasting relationships with members of Council and with the administration. This is not always easy nor can it be done in one or even a series of conversations. Such relationships, if they are to be durable, will require ongoing time and attention and respectful face to face meetings.
While the CAO should be expected to spend more time with the Mayor than any other member of Council, there will also be demands on his time by individual Councils who stop by to discuss matters which are of significance to them. Such discussions are often spontaneous and yet important to the CAO who realizes that s/he needs to develop solid, trusting relationships with all members of Council if s/he is to be sustained in their job and trusted in their advice.
Relationship building is also important with other members of the administration. Each will want to have their boss aware of their challenges and successes and thus the need for planned and unplanned one on ones. The CAO will be called on to do a performance review of each of their direct reports on an annual basis and that will require a degree of familiarity with their managers which will only arise if the necessary time is being allocated.
- A Conduit and Implementor
One of the roles of a CAO is that of ensuring Council’s decisions and messages get to the right ears and are implemented in accordance with the resolution or policy and/or budget. Councils meet; participate in discussions and debate relative to agenda matters; and make decisions which they feel are most appropriate to the current circumstances (often as explained by the CAO).
The CAO acts as a conduit whenever they pass information to the Council from management or conversely, whenever information and/or decisions are communicated to management after their consideration by Council. This is an important and at times delicate role as nuances of the decision-making process may have to be explained in order for the recipient to make sense of what transpired.
The CAO also acts on behalf of Council to ensure that decisions are effectively and expeditiously implemented. While this may not be a formalized process, it could be and, in some instances, it would act as a form of assurance to Council that their decisions were not floating in space somewhere but were actually gaining traction. Where this becomes a time of friction due to Council members questioning if anything is getting acted upon, it may be timely for the CAO to consider a more formalized approach to ensuring that decisions being transmitted to management are actually being implemented.
Part of the approach to transmitting decisions is the role of “quality control”. The CAO has the responsibility to make sure that issues are being managed effectively and to a standard set by the CAO. The theme of “continuous improvement” should be much more than a trite expression. It should be the theme of management as a whole signifying their commitment to seeing to it that all employees are on the lookout for ways to improve their service to the public.
As chief administrative officer, one of the principal functions is to provide both a directing and coordinating role vis-a-vis other staff. The CAO is to be responsible for the functions and activities carried out by subordinate staff. While it is apparent that the CAO will need to know something about each of their areas of responsibility, it is equally evident that the CAO will need to rely upon the expertise and academic training possessed by each of these individuals.
Part of the CAO’s mandate in this regard is to ensure that the municipality is adhering to modern, transparent and fair HR (human resources) policies and processes. This necessitates that the municipality’s management maintain a continual watch on applicable legislation and ensure that their own practices are in sync. Whether these practices are being practiced in a constructive and fair manner is often reflected in staff morale which ought to be measured and monitored on a scheduled basis.
None of the foregoing precludes the CAO from exercising their authority to determine the most effective deployment of resources. This requires wisdom in structuring (and restructuring) departments; recruiting and placing senior level personnel; and, at times, replacing those who may no longer fit the requirements to which they were originally retained.
- Relationship to the Public
The CAO also has an important role in setting the tone of the municipality’s relationship with the public. If the CAO sees the public as the key client of municipal services and the most important audience that the staff have for their work, then the responsiveness of the CAO will underline this sense of closeness to the people being served. If, on the other hand, the CAO is seemingly more interested what should be considered extraneous matters such as the technology of “city hall” and/or outside involvements, then the administration as a whole may respond with indifference to the needs and complaints of the public.
Maintaining a positive profile in the community will be useful to the CAO as the CAO tries to inculcate a “service first” mentality throughout the workforce. This includes being present when emergencies of some magnitude happen; being in a supportive role at the “state of the RM” speech by the Reeve/Mayor; attending or coordinating meetings with other civic (administrative) leaders; ensuring that the Mayor and Council are continually updated relative to major community events and issues.
- Discharge of all legislative and bylaw requirements
The powers and duties of the CAO are described in legislation and generically. (What follows is largely generic). Council passes a bylaw citing these responsibilities and providing the CAO with a reasonable degree of independence in making clear-headed management decisions. These include the authority to:
- Recruit, retain and dismiss members of the senior management team
- Recommend the number of management and administrative personnel within the approved budget of Council
- Determine salaries, benefits, hours of work, and other working conditions of employees in accordance with established administrative policy
- Direct, supervise and review the performance of the administration of all departments and employees
- Establish organizational structures below the department head level
- Work within Council’s approved policies relating to all human resource matters including working conditions and compensation
- Accept all tenders up to $xxxx
- Develop, approve, and implement administrative policies, procedures, and practices
- Develop and recommend for Council approval policies dealing with matters within Council’s authority as directed by Council, or at the initiation of the CAO
- Prepare and submit to Council for approval capital and operating budgets annually
- Monitor, report on, and control expenditures within the budgets approved by Council
- Designate the financial institution(s) to be used by the municipality in accordance with the Act, and open and close accounts on behalf of the municipality in accordance with Council policies
- Invest money on behalf of the municipality in accordance with the Act and Council policies
- Recommend an external auditor for appointment by Council pursuant to the Act, and procure the services of the auditor appointed by Council
- Prepare and submit such reports and recommendations as may be required by Council or Council committees;
- Regularly, and in any event at least semi-annually, report to Council and to Council committees as directed by Council on:
(i) matters and issues affecting the municipality;
(ii) progress on Council’s directions, plans, policies and strategic goals;
(iii) the municipality’s financial status compared to the approved budgets and financial sustainability measures
- Attend meetings of Council and Council committees, and attend meetings of such other boards, committees, authorities or bodies as requested by Council.
Assistance to the Council in Direction-Setting
While the Council has the principal role in setting forth the vision for and with the community, this does not happen in a vacuum. The CAO is expected to play a significant role in ensuring that Council is aware of the significance of thoughtful “big vision” planning. This approach enables the CAO to develop the approach to be recommended to Council in articulating its views as well as providing advice to the Council on both current and future issues that need to be taken into consideration.
The CAO should be expected to provide Council with the background to what has been done by prior Council(s); the role of planning with regard to the budget; the impact of past plans on the work of the administration; the projects that have been previously committed to by this or a prior Council; the impact of public consultation on the community’s priorities.
The CAO also has the responsibility of including his senior managers and subject matter experts in his/her briefing so as to alert Council to the important role played by not only the CAO but also by her/his senior, skilled advisors/managers.
The CAO’s role is best described as a facilitator of the strategic plan through ensuring that an independent voice is retained to assist Council with their process; and requiring and advising his/her senior management of their support roles in the process. His/her leadership is added when as CAO s/he can advise Council as to his/her view of priorities based on the municipality’s needs.
- Fiscal Management
Ensuring that the financial affairs of the municipality are being properly managed is also a requisite function of the CAO. While local governments often associate that responsibility with the Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer, the person most accountable for the fiscal health of the municipality is the CAO.
Such a statement is not contrary to any delegation of responsibility to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Rather, it is a reflection of the principle of personal accountability of the chief administrative officer. The former (the CFO) is the person most likely to have the best grasp on the financial affairs of the community. The latter (i.e. the CAO) is the key member of the administration who should be held accountable by Council for ensuring that the fiscal affairs are always maintained in a sound, healthy state. Thus, it is incumbent upon the CAO to choose someone for the important post of Chief Financial Officer who has the requisite skills and academic preparation, realizing how important that role is to the Council and residents of the community.
Summary
The foregoing should provide ample evidence of the important role played by the CAO in ensuring that the municipality is managed (and governed) in an effective, efficient and open manner. He/she is critical to Council being able to govern with confidence; and essential if the administration is to sense that its work is valued by those elected to govern the system.
