Sackville town council met this week for their first public meeting since approving the resignation of the town’s CAO, Jamie Burke. Councillor Sabine Dietz, the human resources liaison for council, acknowledged the resignation at the beginning of Tuesday’s meeting:
“Mr. Jamie Burke, CAO for the town of Sackville, gave his letter of resignation at a special meeting of council on Thursday, October 27, 2022. Council has accepted Mr. Burke’s resignation letter, and council has appointed Michael Beal as acting CAO, effective November 2, 2022 and ending on December 31, 2022.”
No further comments were offered by council members on the resignation of Burke, who has served as CAO since April 2020, and before that as the town’s manager of corporate projects for six years. The silence was in contrast to this spring, when the resignation of then town engineer Dwayne Acton garnered kind words from a number of councillors, the mayor, and then-CAO Jamie Burke.
As Dietz explained, Burke’s resignation was discussed at a special meeting of council at noon on October 27, with all of council but for Bruce Phinney and Ken Hicks in attendance, along with Jamie Burke and town clerk Donna Beal. The town’s bylaws require that the agenda for all special meetings is posted at least 48 hours in advance of a meeting “on the Town’s Webpage and through whatever other reasonable means to notify the public are available.” Typically no other means of communication are used to notify the public of unscheduled special meetings, but for posting the agenda on the Minutes & Agendas page of the town’s website.
After convening in camera for a discussion, council then moved to a public session and passed a motion appointing Michael Beal as acting CAO for two months. According to draft minutes posted by the town, the public session included no motions or comments pertaining to Jamie Burke’s resignation.
Beal will have two jobs to do for the next two months, acting as both town treasurer and CAO, until the new town of Tantramar comes into being on January 1, 2023.
The province has already hired a new CAO for the town of Tantramar. Jennifer Borne, the current CAO for the village of Dorchester, beat out Jamie Burke for the top job in the new municipality, based on a recommendation from a committee originally made up Andrew Black, Dorchester Deputy Mayor Robert Corkerton and Sackville local service district resident Chris Milner. Black resigned from the committee before okaying the recommendation, in protest of what he said was an unfair process.
According to the department of local government, Jennifer Borne started her work at Tantramar CAO in September, and will also continue in her role as CAO of Dorchester until December 31, 2022.
At the end of Tuesday’s public council meeting, councillor Michael Tower asked why Burke’s resignation was not formally announced on the town’s website after the October 27 meeting. “Is there a reason why that information wasn’t put on our website, a couple of days after the motion was made about the resignation of Jamie?” asked Tower.
Mayor Shawn Mesheau indicated that the resignation was made public simply because the meeting on October 27 was technically open to the public. “The motion was made publicly,” said Mesheau. “And we, council, did receive a resignation letter from Mr. Burke. So I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about, why the need for a public statement?”
Mesheau said he didn’t believe that human resources matters typically involved public statements, and turned the question over to town clerk, Donna Beal.
“The motion was made in a public meeting,” said Beal, referring to the open portion of the October 27 meeting. “The CAO, that position is responsible to Council,” explained Beal, pointing out that the CAO is the sole employee of town council. “There would have been nothing coming out, onto the website, from a staff member.”
Sackville town council meets again on Tuesday, November 15, for their last ever regular council meeting. According to the agenda for that meeting, Burke’s resignation will be acknowledged during a Human Resources Liaison Group report, but it is not mentioned at all in the Mayor’s report published along with the agenda.