New CAO comes to Aurora after contentious time in Sudbury

December 21, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

Doug Nadorozny will serve as Aurora’s new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) effective January 11.

Mayor Geoff Dawe announced the appointment on Thursday afternoon and lauded Mr. Nadorozny’s experience in the public sector.

“Doug Nadorozny has a wealth of experience both in the private sector and as CAO,” said Mayor Dawe. “He brings a business perspective to delivery of public services and we look forward to his leadership of our talented staff in delivering on the programs and policies of Council.”

He comes to Aurora after several years with the City of Sudbury, including serving as General Manager for Planning, Building, Environment, Transit, Culture and Bylaw Enforcement, before taking the helm as CAO in 2008.

“I look forward to the challenges this reasonably small town is going to face with growth that is, no doubt, going to show up on our doorstep,” Mr. Nadorozny tells The Auroran. “The largest part of my career in the public sector was in the growth and development section in terms of working with the development community and looking to market the community as well to other businesses, and dealing with the stresses and strains that come from development within the community.

“When I see the relatively small size of Aurora and the demands that are going to be placed on it, I really looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and bringing the CAO’s office into that picture in helping to make sure growth comes the right way and is done in a way that is complementary to what the people of Aurora want to see.”

His time as Sudbury’s CAO, however, came with its own stresses and strains. He left the position this past April amid contention between Sudbury’s City Council, the bulk of whom who had been elected the previous October, including Mayor Brian Biggar, formerly Sudbury’s Auditor General.

“We came into our respective offices within a month of each other,” says Mr. Nadorozny. “We, staff, had a pretty rough relationship with the Auditor General, as did the previous Council. It was most definitely a difficult four years. It ended with the Council taking some of their own actions in terms of their concern about the activities of this auditor general but before anything got pushed to a head, the Auditor General took a leave of absence, ran for mayor and became Mayor. He ended up sitting in the big seat about two months after he took his leave of absence.

“The reality is after about four years of me defending staff and working with Council, and certainly at times seeming to be resisting some of the work of the Auditor General, I guess you could say the relationship was doomed to be a stressful one with him going into the Mayor’s role and me being his employee. We went at it for a year, did okay, but had a difference of opinion on some of the way savings could be achieved. In the end, we all thought it was better for someone to lead that didn’t have the baggage of the relationship.”

These concerns were addressed during the extensive interview process, according to Aurora’s interim CAO Pat Moyle and, in the end, Mr. Nadorozny ticked all the right boxes.
“He has an outstanding set of references and an interesting background,” says Mr. Moyle. “His background was an interesting blend of private sector experience and some very solid experience with the City of Sudbury. His time at the City of Sudbury was challenging, given some of the political machinations of that place, but based on his references he was very well liked by staff and the community.”

Adds Councillor John Abel: “He is definitely going to be an asset to Aurora. He has great credentials and he is very strong in economics and organization. He understands municipal business, so he understands how the organization runs, he understands his relationship to Council, and he demonstrated strong economic development in Sudbury. With our 2C Lands east of Leslie, it was a perfect fit.”