By Mark Squibb/January 20, 2023
They say the third time’s the charm, but that wasn’t the case for Witless Bay council, which last week moved to fire former Town Manager Shawn Kavanagh a fourth time.
There was no explanation from anyone on council as to why they were firing Kavanagh again.
The Irish Loop Post reached out to Mayor Trevor Croft afterwards, who said he was unable to comment on the matter.
He suggested Town Manager Geraldine Caul would be able to respond.
Caul replied to the inquiry with the same response she has offered on previous occasions — “The Town does not comment on matters pertaining to Human Resources,” she said.
Kavanagh could not be reached by deadline, but in times past has claimed the Town has not followed proper provincial legislation for laying off town staff.
The Town appointed Shawn Kavanagh as new Town Manager and acting Town Clerk back in February 2022, with Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard and councillor Alex Troake boasting at the time that council was able to make the hiring without the use of an outside consultant or hiring firm, saving taxpayers thousands of dollars.
Kavanagh was hired to replace former Town Manager Kevin Kelley, who had been hired in September and then tendered his resignation in early October of 2021. Prior to Kelly’s hiring, the position of chief administrative officer had been filled for about a year by Pat Curran, an experienced municipal and business consultant. Previous to that, the top administrative position in the Town was the position of Town Clerk, which was filled by current Town Manager Geraldine Caul.
The motion to fire Kavanagh a fourth time passed unanimously.
