GUELPH POLITICAST #452 – New Year, New CAO (feat. Tara Baker)

Guelph Politicast

The CAO position is the highest ranking official in local government that doesn’t have the job title of either mayor or city councillor, and it’s the only staff position at city hall that’s hired by a committee made up of the mayor and councillors. So yes, it’s a pretty important job, and it’s not like there’s any shortage of issues or needs for the new woman in charge as she enters her first full year in charge.

It was about this time last year that Scott Stewart announced that he would be retiring by the summer. Stewart had been the CAO for five years, and they were probably the most challenging five years any CAO has experienced in the history of Guelph. (Well, so far.) He got a lot done, but there also ended up being a lot of work for Tara Baker to do once she picked up the baton in mid-September. Fortunately, she had something of a head start.

Before becoming the CAO, Baker had spent 13 years at Guelph city hall, including the last eight as the City Treasurer and the General Manager of Finance. If the emphasis is to be put on affordability now, as it was with the last budget she worked on as Treasurer, it puts even more pressure on Baker as she's managing all the spinning plates in her new office. On this edition of the podcast, she will tell us what comes next.

Yes, Baker joins us this week to talk about why she wanted to be the CAO, why she thinks she stood out from the other applicants and the changing role of the CAO position after the introduction of Strong Mayor Powers. She will also talk about the search for a new City Treasurer, and the greater emphasis on affordability when it comes to City business. Also, she will discuss the changes she’s making to the job, and what she wants her legacy to be when it becomes her turn to retire from the role.

So let's get the 4-1-1 on the new CAO on this week's Guelph Politicast!

You can see Baker's plan for goals and objectives for the coming year as part of the council agenda package for the January 28 meeting here, and you can just learn more generally about the CAO office here. And speaking of podcasts, you can check out Baker’s appearance on Breezy Breakfast from last October and you can find that pod on whatever platform you listen to his one on.

The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify.

Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.