Several South Dundas municipal managers will be eligible for retirement in the next five to seven years, so South Dundas officials are now trying to plan for the future.
The Ontario Municipal Internship Program was developed to address the critical need to attract and train the next generation of competent, well-rounded municipal leaders.
South Dundas is hoping through the program to bring in a recent graduate for a 12 month internship where they would work alongside the chief administrative officer and other senior staff members.
If South Dundas’ application is successful, the government program would provide 50 per cent of the intern’s salary, up to $40,000, with an additional $5,000 available to subsidize ancillary expenses.
“At the conclusion of the program, the desired result is the development of a well-rounded, knowledgeable and grounded municipal professional who can ultimately rise to a leadership position in any municipality,” said South Dundas CAO Steve McDonald in his report to council.
“This fits very nicely with where South Dundas is going staffing-wise, with regards to succession planning,” he added.
“This is really a two-way street,” commented South Dundas deputy mayor Jim Locke. “We get someone with up to date knowledge, and they get valuable hands on experience.”
“This is a great opportunity for us to get another staff member and we could certainly benefit from that,” said South Dundas councillor Evonne Delegarde.
“After seeing the benefits of this program at the County level, I’m all for it,” said South Dundas mayor Steven Byvelds, explaining that the Counties intern has done a lot of extra work and gathered a lot of extra information for which regular staffers don’t normally have enough time.
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