The Chief Administrative Officer in the Town of Essex has officially announced his retirement.
Doug Sweet will be retiring from the town effective May 16, 2025.
Sweet has served in municipal government for over 36 years, and has served the Town of Essex for over 16 years.
As CAO, he has guided Essex through numerous initiatives, challenges, and growth. The CAO is responsible for ensuring that council's directives are carried out in an effective and efficient manner.
Essex mayor Sherry Bondy says everyone at town hall was saddened by the news, but says no one deserves it more than him.
Bondy says it's so well deserved.
"He is a hometown Essex guy, and he's done so much for the Town of Essex, and he's accomplished a lot of goals, and it's his time to enjoy the rest of his life with his family. And we're incredibly sad to see him go, but he's also left Essex in really good shape."
She says everyone holds so much respect for Sweet.
"One of Doug's big goals was always customer service, and thinking about how can he make - and work with council to make - the Town of Essex better for our residents. And that's truly what he did on a day-to-day basis, he was super organized, and efficient, and nothing ever fell off his desk, nothing got by him."
Bondy says council will decide on next steps, but says she doesn't want the town to move backwards.
"We've worked hard to build the town that we have, we have a great skill set here with our staff. So it'll be up to council to see if we go internal, external, but I can guarantee to the staff and the residents of the Town of Essex that we won't go backwards."
She adds that council will be meeting in the very near future to discuss next steps.
Bondy says that the town is committed to a smooth transition of CAO's.
