Embattled Innisfail CAO Helen Dietz has decided to retire from municipal politics.
The decision by Dietz, who made her announcement at a town staff party on Dec. 9, is effective July 1, 2017.
“I am retiring from municipal government,” Dietz told the Province yesterday (Dec. 12) “We have a ranch in Saskatchewan (Maple Creek-Piapot area) that we need to put some attention to, and some family we want to spend some time with. If anything, some day down the road we might come up with a family business.
“I am excited. I am really excited going forward and doing things differently, doing different things,” she added.
Dietz said the public criticism against her since the September dismissal of fire chief Dean Clark was not a factor in her decision, nor did it hasten her exit and retirement plans.
“No, no. I was hugely disappointed in the article. I was embarrassed,” said Dietz of the recent media coverage of the vocal public discontent about her leadership of the town, which began in 2011. “After 30 years I've never been treated that way in an article, but that had nothing to do with my decision to retire.”
Mayor Brian Spiller, who returned from a vacation in Mexico this past weekend, said he had not known about Dietz's decision to retire and was surprised to hear the news on Monday morning.
“I was disappointed. She had been talking about retiring,” said Spiller. After her 30 years of public service, and I will greatly miss her as she has been a great confidante and leader for the town,” said Spiller.
In the meantime, there has been surprise from other quarters of the community.
Jim Carroll, one of the leaders of a citizens' delegation questioning the leadership of the town, said Dietz's decision to leave Innisfail does not change the group's resolve to get the answers to 14 questions it put to town council at an emotional hearing on Nov. 28.
“Obviously the timing is curious. One can't help but raise an eyebrow. It really doesn't change our desire to get answers to our questions,” said Carroll, who will be attending town council on Jan. 9 when it is expected council will address the 14 questions.
He said the citizens' delegation still wants to know how and why the fire chief Dean Clark was dismissed, as well as ensuring the town is run differently from the top.
“I still want to know. She (Dietz) is leaving, but it certainly affected his (Clark) career drastically, and could he not have been part of whatever new direction they were going in. We still cannot understand that,” said Carroll, adding that whoever is hired to replace Dietz has to run the town differently. “Whoever is coming, things need to be changed as we have obviously mentioned and heard from many other people.
“As we go forward as a town something has to change down here, regardless of what Councillor (Doug) Bos said at the (Nov. 28) meeting that things won't change with a change of the CAO,” added Carroll. “I don't believe that. I think things have to.”
Helen Dietz
"I was hugely disappointed in the article. I was embarrassed. After 30 years I've never been treated that way in an article, but that had nothing to do with my decision to retire."
