Michael Duben: Strong future for communities, local governments, CAOs
Michael Duben is both the District of Muskoka CAO and the president of the Ontario Municipal Administrators’ Association (OMAA) for 2019-2020, so it’s no surprise he is an advocate not only for local government, but for his profession as well.
Speaking with Municipal World CEO Susan Gardner at the 2019 OMAA Spring Workshop at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Duben addressed the recent turnover of CAOs. He also discussed how OMAA and his fellow administrators can do to help forge stronger communities.
“We are not the face of the municipality. We are often the ones taking a picture at a ribbon cutting as opposed to being front and centre. I think that’s the way it should be,” he said. “There is probably a role for CAOs to play in terms of sharing data with the public and educating the public … that’s not a policy role and not a political role. There may be an opportunity for CAOs to be more front and centre in their communities.”
Finding Opportunity around CAO Turnover
Duben addressed the turnover within the local government sector since the 2018 municipal elections. There is a downside to that turnover for OMAA members. However, he added there was also a number of opportunities that came out of the changes.
In addition, CAOs – who Duben said tend to last only about five years in one municipality – had the opportunity to move on to new challenges in new communities.
Diversity Grows within Local Government Leadership
Duben said it is important to OMAA leadership to increase the organization’s membership. However, the diversity of those members has also become a strategic priority.
“There is certainly more diversity from a visible minority standpoint, but also in terms of men and women. On top of that, diversity in terms of where the CAOs have developed their skills,” he said. “You are seeing a lot more diversity in terms of what their subject matter expertise is, whether it is law, whether its paramedics, whether its fire, or in some cases not even municipal at all. I think that makes us stronger as a group. I think we need to work harder at that.” MW
✯ Municipal World Insider and Executive Members: You might also be interested in the article: OMAA focuses on municipal innovation and engagement. Note that you can now access the complete collection of past articles (and more) from your membership dashboard.
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