‘The corruption is gone, so that’s pretty cool,’: RM of Sherwood CAO resigns

The RM of Sherwood’s top bureaucrat, chief administrative officer Bruce McCullough, has resigned after saying his work there is done.

“In two and a half years we’ve gone from poor governance to good governance we have good, professional staff and service,” McCullough said.

“And a municipality that was filled with corruption and the corruption is gone. So that’s pretty cool.”

The RM of Sherwood is one of many municipalities McCullough has worked to improve. In the last 15 years, he said he’d often spend two or three years with an administration until he felt it was in good shape again.

He came to the RM of Sherwood early in the conflict of interest investigation of former reeve Kevin Eberle.

Eberle was found guilty of conflict of interest and breach of public trust. He stood to make over $57 million through a land agreement with the Great Prairie Development Corporation’s proposed Wascana View development.

Back in October, deputy-reeve Tim Probe was charged with municipal corruption and is on a leave of absence to deal with the charges.

Now, the search is on for an interim replacement for McCullough. Reeve Jeff Poissant said that McCullough’s former role is a big one to fill.

“He’s the conduit for us and staff. So it’s pretty important for him to be around,” Poissant said.

“He’s got the three directors underneath him and the staff underneath that. They all filter up to him and through him they come to council, so it’s very vital that we have an administrative officer that’s fit for the role.”

Poissant said that the RM is looking for an interim CAO first because the search for a permanent replacement is expected to take weeks or months.

As for McCullough, he reopened his consulting firm, R. McCullough Consulting. He first opened the firm in 2008, and put it on the shelf in 2010 due to local government commitments.