Some of us spend January making plans for the new year, but it seems like some of us were making plans for retirement. You may have noticed on the council calendar that the CAO Recruitment, Selection and Performance Sub-committee has met more this month than the whole of council, and maybe now there’s an understandable reason why: the City of Guelph is going to need a new Chief Administration Officer. The current one is retiring.

In a media release on Thursday it was announced that Scott Stewart would be retiring this summer at the end of his five-year term as Guelph’s CAO. Stewart was elevated to CAO in July 2019 after his predecessor, Derrick Thomson, left the position quite suddenly six months earlier and took up similar position in Minto before moving on to Bruce County where he announced his own retirement last fall.

Before serving as CAO, Stewart came to Guelph in November 2015 to serve in the position of Deputy CAO for Infrastructure, Development and Enterprise, but he has nearly four decades of experience in municipal government from various positions in Burlington, Hamilton, Brampton, Mississauga and Peel Region.

“Serving as the CAO has been the pinnacle of my career, and I wouldn’t have wanted it to be in any other place than Guelph,” Stewart said in a statement.

Stewart’s time as the City’s chief executive, which is the only staff position that city council itself has direct control over, has seen a number of changes and challenges. He helped lead the City’s shift to multi-year budgeting and quadrennial strategic planning, and it was through his guidance that big projects like the new main library and the South End Community Centre were finally able to get off the ground. He also found himself in a leadership role running the City’s emergency control group during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I have appreciated and enjoyed working collaboratively with community leaders on some of the complex issues facing our city, and I am grateful to council for consistently providing great leadership and guidance on behalf of our residents,” Stewart added. “Of course, none of my professional success would have been possible without the support of our talented and caring City staff; as I settle into my next chapter of life in retirement, I know I will reflect fondly on my time spent working alongside them.”

“I am truly grateful that we had Scott Stewart at the helm as the City of Guelph’s CAO for five years,” said Mayor Cam Guthrie in his own statement. “Scott’s strategic vision and years of public-sector experience made him a champion for our municipality, and we are fortunate to have had his leadership during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Scott’s experience, professionalism and guidance will be missed. I wish him all the best in his retirement and this new chapter of his life.”

The City media release notes that Guthrie, Stewart, city council and human resources will soon undertake the process of finding Stewart’s successor as the CAO.