By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Monday’s special meeting of Cobourg council was requested by councillors wanting to know more about Mayor Lucas Cleveland’s Aug. 14 directive – issued under his new Strong Mayor Powers – outlining a complete restructuring of the town’s Planning and Development Division and the hiring of Chris Challenger to head it.
Compared to how such a step might have been taken prior to the May 1 announcement that Cobourg was among 170 municipalities to get such powers, Councillor Miriam Mutton characterized the mayor’s unilateral announcement as “a little bit blue-sky, if I may say it that way.”
Hired in 2024 to manage the office of the Chief Administrative Officer, Challenger has no education in development planning – which is one issue that inspired lengthy discussion.
Cleveland said the decision had been made after he had conferred with staff, leadership, members of the community, and development professionals.
“It seemed like the most appropriate decision to make, and that is why I made it,” he stated.
Though he also said he’d discussed the move with councillors, both Mutton and Deputy Mayor Nicole Beatty said they had not been contacted on the matter.
“At no point has any member of council called me to ask any questions,” the mayor countered.
Cleveland said he was in the planning section several times a week, hearing complaints they receive on the progress of different developments.
“It wasn’t a planning department, it was a planning-and-development department. I believe it was time we move more to a development focus in Cobourg,” he said, listing the four sections of what will now be the Development Division – the planning department, the development engineering services department, the building department and the economic development department.
Cleveland’s directive makes it official that Challenger will head the department, and the process has begun to hire a Deputy Director of Development.
Though solicitor John Mascarin made it clear that this unilateral move is consistent with Strong Mayor Powers, Beatty questioned if it was consistent with risk-mitigation practices and human-resources policy, given that the new director has no germane professional license.
The head of a hospital is not necessarily a doctor, Cleveland said.
“A director isn’t necessarily supposed to be the person doing the work. They are to be directing a department.
“When we are looking at a director of development, we are looking at a problem solver who is to be overseeing four departments of highly skilled talent,” he said.
What is needed, Cleveland continued, is a problem solver, a people person, someone who can handle difficult problems.
“Whenever I have handed a difficult file to Chris Challenger, it has always come back neatly handled, solved, with all parties ready to move forward.”
He added that Challenger “has showed an incredible versatility and an ability to approach problems from no set perspective but the fastest way to get to a solution.
“I am beyond excited to see the work of Mr. Challenger as we move forward.”
Previously, such a move would have required council buy-in, he said, but fast results are what is required now.
Beatty countered that the process should have included a staff report to council.
“I wish it had come through the lens of our HR policies,” she said.
“I just wish this was more of an evidence-based directive, and all of council and departments had the opportunity to have a full discussion of this.”
Mascarin reminded her that Strong Mayor Powers now assign the organizational structure of the municipality to the mayor. However, council still bear responsibility for the financial integrity of the municipality, and requesting a staff report on the costs of such a move might not be out of line.
Mascarin also noted that there is no requirement in the legislation to post the directives that the mayor has been posting, including the one announcing this reorganization.
“We post every single one when it is issued, based on your determination when you would like it posted,” Municipal Clerk Brent Larmer agreed.
The agenda included a letter from Peter D. Montgomery, who questioned why the town even needed to hire a Deputy Director.
“Having worked in multi-million-dollar non-profit organisations for 25 years, many of those years as a director of development, at no time did I need a deputy director,” Montgomery’s letter queried, but his question was not addressed.
Four members of the community addressed council in person, but seemed to accept they could not do much beyond appeal for co-operation for the good of the community.
Jennifer Darrell made the shortest presentation, offering only one sentence – “I have heard enough of the discussion to know that anything I might say is futile.”
More enthusiastic support came from Anthony Dew of Stalwood Homes, who is also a member of the Northumberland Contracting and Builders Association and the county’s Task Force on Affordable Housing.
Dew echoed the mayor’s assessment that speed matters in terms of development, and an integrated department that avoids information silos is the way to go.
Cleveland recalled that Challenger was hired at a time when CAO Tracey Vaughan was dealing with a badly understaffed planning department. Now that Planner Cristal Laanstra is leaving, a move must be made.
“This decision wasn’t made in isolation by the mayor. I didn’t sit in my office and come up with this decision. Brilliant people around me whom I have come to trust in the last two and a half years came to me and said this is and should be the move while we rebuild,” he said.
At any rate, Councillor Randy Barber pointed out, Challenger is subject to an extended probation of six to 12 months.
Beatty put forward a motion – that Mascarin reviewed and found appropriate under Strong Mayor Powers – to direct staff to prepare a report analyzing the financial impacts of these changes, outlining the resulting budget implications, as well as an update on the balance of the staff hiring contingency fund.
