Another one bites the dust.
Ron Gaudet, hailed as “a star in economic development” when he became the new chief executive officer of the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation in 2010, has been fired, sources say.
He was the seventh person in the job in the last nine years.
The corporation’s board of directors announced Thursday that Gaudet “has left … to pursue other career opportunities.”
But that’s not what I was told.
I was told he was fired without cause. He was so distraught, it’s said, that he left the room and vomited. He signed the settlement Wednesday.
“We felt we had an opportunity to hire a star in economic development,” corporation board vice-chairman Joe
Byrne said in announcing Gaudet’s appointment in November 2009.
He was chosen over 125 applicants. One of his references was Frank McKenna, the former premier of New Brunswick. He was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle in the five-year quest to put the troubled corporation back together.
Less than three months later, Byrne, now chairman, made the announcement Gaudet is gone. I’m told McKenna called Gaudet to console him.
Here’s the eerie part. I’m told that when Gaudet was offered the job, he received anonymous calls and emails warning him not to accept it.
But last June, then-board chairman Lindsay Boyd and board member and Essex County Warden Tom Bain praised Gaudet’s leadership. The corporation had become more efficient than many organizations like it and had enhanced its credibility with local businesses significantly, said Boyd, former chairman of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce. Boyd said he used to have to practically beg people to volunteer for the board. But last summer, a dozen highly qualified candidates had applied to fill vacancies.
Bain said at the time he was “extremely pleased” with the transformation.
“ … they’re doing a great job,” he said.
At the corporation’s annual general meeting last July, “they (several board members) were effusive about his performance, what was going on. They said he was doing a great job. It was like a lovefest,” said Coun. Alan Halberstadt, who was there.
Last year, the corporation was recognized as one of the top 10 such organizations in Canada for its efforts and results in attracting new business.
So what happened? Well, no one is saying much, including Gaudet, who is said to have signed a “very restrictive” gag order and just wants to be done with it, and most of the corporation’s board, including Mayor Eddie Francis and Bain.
But it’s no secret that Francis and Gaudet have been at loggerheads — from the corporation’s priorities to where its office should be. I talked to Francis after his State of the City address last April. He spent 27 pages, almost an hour, outlining what he’s doing to attract investment. After, I asked him about the role of the development corporation.
“Most of these initiatives are being run through my office,” he said.
Would it be better to work together? I asked.
He shrugged. “There are times when we bring them in,” he said.
I was stunned at his response.
Collaboration was the corporation’s top priority last year. Yet the mayor’s office spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on its own economic development initiatives.
“Somehow it’s gotten out that the city’s work, our corporation are at odds. That couldn’t be farther from the truth,” Byrne said Thursday.
Well, that’s not what others are saying, and that’s not what I saw.
Several years ago, the corporation decided not to have politicians on its board to prevent meddling. Then Francis and former warden Nelson Santos were appointed to clean it up. They pledged they wouldn’t stay longer than six months. Now, with no CEO, the whole corporation will be run by an “executive panel” composed of Byrne, vice-chair Shelley Fellows and — you guessed it — Francis and Bain.
It will look for another CEO “in due course,” Byrne said, whatever that means. Frankly, who would want a job with a track record like this? (Didn’t I write that about the city’s auditor general position, too?)
City and county taxpayers contribute about $2 million to the corporation. I think we’re entitled to some frank talk. But I guess the board doesn’t think so. Can the mayor, the warden and most of the board just refuse to return calls?
Byrne also refused to disclose Gaudet’s settlement.
“Yes, we’re dealing with taxpayers’ money,” he said. But “it’s confidential,” he said.
Seven CEOs in nine years — wouldn’t you love to know how much we’ve paid out in total?
What worries me most is what this says about the organization charged with developing the economy of the unemployment capital of Canada — and what it says to investors we’re trying to woo.
“Our organization is very strong and very stable,” Byrne declared.
Seven CEOs in nine years?
“Fischer was supposed to be the Second Coming, too,” said Halberstadt, referring to Matthew Fischer, another CEO who left.
No, this revolving door is still spinning — wildly.
ajarvis@windsorstar.com
