Guelph Politicast

The CAO position is the highest ranking official in local government that doesn’t have the job title of either mayor or city councillor, and it’s the only staff position at city hall that’s hired by a committee made up of the mayor and councillors. So yes, it’s a pretty important job, and it’s not like there’s any shortage of issues or needs for the new woman in charge as she nears the end of her first year in charge. In January, we got a chance to sit down with City of Guelph CAO Tara Baker. At the time, she was just coming off a difficult budget confirmation process and prepping for a year that was going to be focused on housing development. Now there have been some hiccups on that second one, despite the fact, as you'll hear, Baker has a daily reminder in her office about its importance, and Baker has the experience to know what's important to Guelph. Before becoming the CAO, Baker had spent 13 years at Guelph city hall, including the last eight as the City Treasurer and the General Manager of Finance. If