MIDDLETON, NS - Middleton’s CAO Rachel Turner has been hired by the Town of Oxford where she will begin as CAO in the Cumberland County town effective May 1.
Middleton Mayor Sylvester Atkinson said Turner informed council March 19 that she was leaving at the end of March.
Oxford Mayor Trish Stewart announced March 21 that Turner would be taking up the CAO position there in May.
“We’re really sorry to see her go,” said Atkinson, “but we wish her well. She’s been most effective and very capable. She’s here until the end of the month. We do have someone in place to fill in as an interim CAO to help us with the job search and so on.”
The town has hired Brian Smith from the Kentville area who acted as interim CAO before Turner was hired in early 2014.
Asked how long he expected the search to take, and how far afield it would extend, Atkinson wasn’t certain.
“The news just hit us Monday night,” he said, “so we haven’t had a lot of time yet, but I’ll be meeting with him in a few days and we’ll be going from there.”
“I’ve enjoyed my work with Middleton,” said Turner. “We have a great team and it’s been a challenge to move on but my personal and professional life have led me to make the move and I’m looking forward to new challenges.”
Turner had been brought in as CAO for Bridgetown in August of 2012 to help stabilize municipal government there. Before that she worked in a number of increasingly responsible positions in public administration with both the towns of Berwick and Wolfville from 1997 through 2012.
