Less than a month after he resigned from his position as the City of Brantford’s CAO, Brian Hutchings is returning to the job.
City council reappointed Hutchings as CAO at a meeting on Tuesday.
Hutchings, who had been with the city for about 3 1/2 years, left in early March to take a leadership position in community services in the Niagara region and help manage a family business.
Hutching said on Wednesday those plans didn’t work out as expected. He said the job he had taken at a not-for-profit organization “was not what I envisioned,” and helping to digitize a dental hygiene business run by his wife and daughter happened more quickly than anticipated.
“I kind of worked my way out of a job,” said Hutchings who will be back at his desk at city hall on Tuesday.
“I love Brantford and feel very strongly about seeing through a number of the city’s key initiatives, including settlement of the boundary lands, redevelopment of the Brantford Police Services station, expanding the supply of affordable housing, a new multi-year budgeting process and cementing the city’s relationship with the Brantford Bulldogs.”
Mayor Kevin Davis said discussions with Hutchings happened over the last week and he will return to the city under “essentially, the same terms and conditions.” The CAO – who provides advice to council and ensures the proper implementation of council decisions — earned just over $240,000 in 2022.
Davis said Hutchings’ salary and benefits will not increase.
Davis said he’s “very pleased” Hutchings is returning to the city’s top administrative job. He said Hutchings has a “phenomenal work ethic” and was instrumental in securing the city’s agreement with the Ontario Hockey League’s Bulldogs who will be playing at the Brantford Civic Center for at least the next three years, and in overseeing the 2023 budget that is “ well below the current rate of inflation.”
Hutchings’ return means the city won’t need to conduct a search for a new CAO, a process that would have taken months. City council had approved spending up to $75,000 to hire a recruiting firm. Davis said they were close to hiring a firm but the process hadn’t yet been completed, so none of that money will be spent.
There also had been an interim management plan that would have had Davis take on a more active role as chief executive officer of the municipality until the CAO job was filled. Two other senior managers were also to have taken on more responsibility.