The Region of Queens has appointed Dan McDougall as interim CAO. (Rick Conrad)

The Region of Queens has hired an interim chief administrative officer while it looks for a permanent replacement for Cody Joudry.

Dan McDougall will take over CAO duties from acting CAO Pam Lovelace, who will return to her job as municipal clerk. Lovelace, a one-term Halifax councillor and unsuccessful mayoral candidate, was hired in December.

McDougall has done the top job before at Queens. He was the interim CAO in 2023 after Chris McNeill resigned.

McDougall will fill in as CAO until the region finds a replacement for Cody Joudry, whom the newly elected council fired on Dec. 16, saying he wasn’t the right “fit”.

McDougall is a former CAO of the Municipality of Chester and for the Municipality of Colchester County. He has also worked for the province, as CEO of Housing Nova Scotia, and deputy minister of the Department of Municipal Affairs.

“Dan is a very accomplished executive manager with a proven track record supporting municipalities,” Mayor Scott Christian said in a news release.

“Council felt that it was very important to install an interim CAO who comes with a wealth of experience as a CAO, a strong reputation in the local government sector, and who does not want the permanent job, assuring that they can objectively support the organization through a robust recruitment process to identify the best candidate for the role.”

Council had hired Joudry in September 2023. The region had been without a full-time CAO since that May, when McNeill resigned.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Dan McDougall photo from LinkedIn

A temporary replacement has been found to step in as the Region of Queens looks for a new Chief Administrative Officer.

The former CAO of the Municipality of the District of Chester Dan McDougall will assume the role until a permanent replacement is found for the outgoing CAO of Queens, Chris McNeill.

McNeill gave notice in March that he would be resigning to take up the same position for Annapolis County.

McNeill has been the CAO for Queens since January 9, 2019.

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman is excited to land an interim CAO with McDougall’s experience to fill in while the Region continues their search.

“When a CAO is needed, it’s often CAOs who have retired because they can slip in the role and they have a sense of understanding of the Municipal Government Act, etc,” said Norman.

In addition to his time in Chester, MacDougall also served as CAO for Colchester, the CEO of Housing Nova Scotia and was Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs.

The Chief Administrative Officer oversees all employees in the Region and is the only employee a municipal council can directly hire or fire.

At the latest meeting, Region of Queens Council decided the search for a permanent CAO will be conducted by Gerald Walsh Associates.

Interim CAO McDougall will start May 8 and McNeill’s last day is May 12.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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