What are the roles of municipal officials?

Answer 1

It depends what you mean by Officials.

A municipality typically has several "Officer" level positions.

Chief Executive Officer, This is typically your Mayor. The Mayor is responsible for overseeing municipal operations and guiding the legislative process. They set the council agenda and in some Municipalities they have a fairly significant operational budget. They are the 'Face' of the community and act as the official representation of the Municipality. Technically, they serve as both an "Elected Official" and a "Municipal Official".

Chief Administrative Officer, the top civil servant position. The CAO is responsible for all aspects of the Municipality that are not explicitly delegated to other officers. They manage the other Officers and Directors and have a tremendous amount of influence of the daily operations of the Municipality. Their primary job is to make sure that the Municipality fulfills the policies set by the Mayor and Council. They take direction from, and answer to the Mayor and Council. Typically, legal and intergovernmental matters fall to the CAO to manage.

Chief Financial Officer, the CFO Is responsible for proposing a Budget and all Financial matters. They sign the cheques and are the only officer that can approve expenditures that are not specifically identified in the budget.

Chief Bylaw Officer, responsible for administering Bylaws that are passed by council. They coordinate the enforcement, compliance, litigation and in some cases propose changes to Bylaws.

Chief Building Inspector, ultimately responsible for approving/denying all building permits.

Municipal Clerk, responsible for record keeping and procedural matters. They manage Council meetings and liaise with the public regarding the dissemination of Public documents, decisions, and correspondence.

Fire Chiefs, Police Chiefs, Chief Librarians and Chief Animal Welfare Officers are also Municiapl Officials, but they are usually not found at your Municipal Hall.

The Councillors are pseudo-official in status. They are considered "Elected Officials", but their responsibility is to the electorate, not to the Municipality, unlike the other "Officials". When councillors stand in as the Acting or Deputy Mayor, they are considered to be the Mayor.

Hope this Helps, please keep in mind that every Municipality is a little bit different.