A vacant chief sustainability officer job at the City of Nanaimo will stay empty.
The City of Nanaimo will not fill the position of chief sustainability officer left vacant in May with former CSO Kim Fowler no longer working for the municipality, according to John Van Horne, director of human resources.
He would not comment further about Fowler’s departure, as it’s a personnel issue.
“Consistent with every time there’s a departure, we always look and say what do we need right now,” said Van Horne, about not filling the position. “A lot of the work has been completed the initial position was developed to do.”
The hiring was not specifically for the event centre, he said, but there was a lot of policy co-ordination that needed to be done and a lot has been completed, adding he’s not comfortable delving into the role and time with Fowler.
The City of Nanaimo announced Fowler as its new chief sustainability officer last October, and said she’d begin work in December. The position involved working with directors in the developmental of departmental business plans and in the monitoring and evaluating programs and projects aimed at enhancing “operational effectiveness and achieving operational efficiencies,” a press release on her hiring shows. City manager Tracy Samra previously said the position was created as part of implementation of the core review.
Three managers have left the city since January, according to Van Horne.