By Tyler Marr

City turning to external recruiter in hunt for city solicitor

Mar 31, 2018 | 12:10 PM

Due to a lack of applications, the city is looking to hire a professional recruiter to assist in filling the vacant city solicitor position.

City council recently voted to allow up to $35,000 from a vacancy management savings fund for the effort. The position was posted in a number of different advertising mediums from Feb. 9 to March 5, but no applications were received. It was reposted to March 26, but again, no qualified applications rolled in.

City Manager Jim Toye backed his ask for a professional recruiter, as the city “hasn’t seen the result we require in order to ensure we are going to get a very professional person for this position.”

Ward 4 Coun. Don Cody questioned what the problem with the posting could be that has resulted in a lack of interested parties. He wondered if the salary being offered was stymying applications, though was hesitant on throwing too much money at the problem.

“There are solicitors all over the place and I don’t think they are all making a million dollars,” he said. “Surely we should have some way of getting someone without having to spend a myriad of money to get them.”

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Toye believed it to be “a combination of things” including wages contributing to the dilemma. He said on the high end, solicitors bring in about $145,000 a year and start at around $115,000. The advertised posting did not state a starting salary. Toye said this is an item he wished to speak with council on, as they ultimately will select who to hire.

“We might have to bump up that salary somewhat in order to get the professional person we require with a city this size and with some of the issues we need a solicitor for,” he said.

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr