| Oct 10, 2013


It will be more than a sea change for Frontenac County when its Chief Administrative Officer, Liz Savill, leaves next month; it will be a leap into uncharted waters.

When interviewed over the phone this week about her decision to leave Frontenac County after 15 years and to take on the job of CAO in Northumberland County, Savill said that her involvement with Frontenac goes back further than the 15 years since the then Frontenac Management Board was set up in 1998.

“I went to a meeting in 1995, while I was with Municipal Affairs, to talk about a request by the City of Kingston to take over some Frontenac County townships that bordered the city,” she said.

The process that eventually got underway out of that and other meetings led to Kingston and Pittsburgh townships, the two most populated and industrialised townships in the former Frontenac County, joining the Greater City of Kingston.

Frontenac County was eliminated in that process, and when Liz Savill (then Liz Fulton) took on the chief administrator role in 1998 it was of the Frontenac Management Board, which was set up to oversee the Fairmount Home for the Aged and mediate the relationship between the townships of Frontenac Islands and North, South and Central Frontenac with the City of Kingston and the Province of Ontario.

Six years later, after overseeing the $17 million renovation of Fairmount Home, and the assumption of the responsibility for land ambulance in Kingston and Frontenac, Savill and the mayors from the four townships shepherded Frontenac County back into existence.

She has managed the burgeoning staff at the county ever since, and although there has been no shortage of controversy among members of Frontenac County Council over the last two or three years, it came as a surprise when the announcement came out late last Wednesday, October 2, that Savill was leaving her job to take on the vacant CAO position in Northumberland County.

Liz Savill was recruited for the Northumberland position earlier this summer. “They called and asked if I was interested and I thought it was a great opportunity for me,” she said.

Northumberland had conducted an earlier search for a replacement CAO, after former CAO Bill Pyatt announced in November of 2012 that he intended to retire at the end of June in 2013.

No suitable candidate was found after a search in the winter of 2013.

When asked, Liz Savill said she does not recall if she was approached at that time. “In this position there are a lot of calls coming in of this nature, and I just don’t recall if their consultant called back in the winter.”

In any event, this time around, the idea of taking on a county that provides not only long-term care and ambulance services as Frontenac County does, but also transportation, waste management and social services for a population of 86,000 people in seven townships was more than she could resist.

In anticipation of the need for a new CAO, Northumberland County upped the pay grade for the position late in 2012. The CAO pay now ranges between $139,121 and $172,901. Liz Savill received over $148,000 in pay in 2012 (information courtesy the Ontario Sunshine List for Public Sector employees), which is on the mid to lower end of compensation for county CAOs on the list.

“Frontenac County is in great shape,” said Liz Savill as she prepares to leave her position on November 15. "There are very capable people in key positions, and the finances are very solid.”

She added that the contract has been awarded for construction of the Robertsville ambulance base and an RFP for the refurbishment of the Fairmount Home auditorium is pending. The County Official Plan is also in a strong position.

She said she will be available for the upcoming meeting of Frontenac County Council on October 16, and although she will not be at the following meeting on November 20, she will work for that meeting with the county's treasurer, Marian Vanbruinessen, who will become the acting CAO when Savill leaves.

In announcing the resignation last week, Frontenac County Warden Janet Gutowski said, “Liz has offered the County exemplary service over the past 15 years. She has provided strong leadership and dedication ensuring the citizens and ratepayers of Frontenac have been well served under her administration.”

“Liz’s resignation is received with mixed emotions,” said Deputy Warden Bud Clayton. “She will be greatly missed here. Our loss is Northumberland’s gain.”

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