Sharon Chambers ready to take on challenge of being Kincardine's CAO

Her second day in Kincardine, new chief administrative officer Sharon Chambers was at the council table and ready to take on the challenge of her new job.

Born and raised in Teeswater, she has lived there all her life. She got her start in public service working in the administrative department at the Village of Teeswater in 1994 before it was amalgamated into Teeswater-Culross in 1998 and then South Bruce in 1999.

“I was hired as deputy clerk for South Bruce, became public works assistant, director of public works and then the CAO,” says Chambers, 48, relaxing in the Kincardine CAO's office where she took over from Murray Clarke who retired at the end of June.

Ironically, Chambers hired Adam Weishar for the public works director job in South Bruce and he now holds that position in Kincardine. “We've worked together before so that's great.”

In 2015, Chambers became CAO for North Bruce before taking the job in Kincardine, effective July 4.

“Coming to Kincardine was a wonderful opportunity,” she said, “and I really wanted to return to Bruce County. This is a beautiful community. I'm excited to be here and I look forward to meeting people and establishing myself over the next few weeks and months.”

Having moved up through the ranks, Chambers knows most of the positions and the work involved, first-hand.

“When I began at Teeswater, I took courses through the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario (AMCTO) and became educated in municipal government as I worked,” she said. “When I became director of public works, I took courses through the roads school in Guelph, and courses on water and wastewater systems.”

She said it was a difficult time after the Walkerton drinking-water contamination disaster in 2000. “We had to work through all of those Ontario drinking water regulations.”

Chambers had not planned to get involved in municipal government. “But once I started, I didn't want to do anything else. It certainly is never boring.”

For now, her job entails learning and observing, and getting up to speed on the many projects in Kincardine, such as the proposed Southern Bruce natural gas line, economic development opportunities with the Major Component Replacement at Bruce Power, and working with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) on the proposed Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) for low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste at the Bruce site.

“You have a really solid administrative team here,” said Chambers. “It's exciting for me to come and lead it. There are a lot of opportunities here and I'm pleased to work with the council and staff to see this community move forward.”

She and her husband, Pat, who works for Fritz Concrete, are considering a move to Kincardine.

They have two adult children: Ryan, 24, and his fiance, Jessica, live in London; and Justin, 22, is attending Georgian College on a carpentry apprenticeship.

They are also expecting their first grandchild Dec. 29.

In her spare time, Chambers likes running and staying physically fit. She said the job of CAO takes up a lot of time, but she enjoys hobbies, such as painting, when she can fit them into her schedule.