$1 including gst
Your LOCAL Media since 1918! VOLUME 107: ISSUE 21
Tofield Grad Class 2025 bottle drive fundraiser ~ Inside
www.tofieldmerc.com
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Town of Tofield CAO announces retirement Kari Janzen Staff Reporter
Town of Tofield Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Cindy Neufeld announced her retirement effective May 31 at the last regular council meeting on Monday, Jan. 13. “It is with mixed emotions that I announce my retirement, effective May 31, 2025. I’ve had the opportunity and the absolute pleasure of working with the Town of Tofield for 44 years, with 34 years as Chief Administrative Officer. I have worked for 11 councils that serve this community with integrity and sincerity. I have also had the pleasure of working daily with an incredible team of employees. These employees provide an out-
standing service to this community and Council can being proud of all of them. Thank you to the team and Council; it’s been a pleasure working with this organization,” Neufeld’s letter to Council read. Neufeld moved to Tofield in June 1981 from Edmonton and began her employment with the Town of Tofield as an accounting clerk. She married her husband Rick in September that same year. Neufeld obtained her Local Government Certificate and became CAO for the Town in 1991. When asked if she has any highlights of being the CAO of Tofield, she said there are too many to name. “I worked for 11 fantastic Councils. The staff I work with are second to none, and I am going to miss all of them!” Neufeld said.
She is looking forward to spending her days on the golf course and in the sunshine, but Neufeld will miss every aspect of her job. “I’ll miss everything concerning my job, but I look forward to golfing and vacation time,” she said. To fill the position of CAO with the Town, Neufeld said Council has made a motion to enter negotiations with current Assistant CAO Jeff Edwards. “I was so fortunate to work with 11 cohesive Councils, that truly worked as a team. If you don’t have that you cannot move a community forward. I also had the pleasure of working with a number of regional CAOs on several projects. I am proud of this group that
Town of Tofield CAO Cindy Neufeld has announced her retirement, effective May 31. KARI JANZEN PHOTO continually are working to move this region forward,” she said.
Tofield RCMP to have long-term acting commander Kari Janzen ~ Staff Reporter Cpl. Kenneth Sawyer is Tofield RCMP detachment’s newest acting commander and will hold the title until the position is filled. Previously, acting commanders from other detachments served one to three months stints, but Cpl. Sawyer said he is here for the long run and hopes to fill the position permanently if possible. “The position will be confirmed in the coming months as our Human Resources process goes forward. I do intend to fill the role permanently if selected to do so,” Cpl. Sawyer said. In June 2024 the detachment’s commander Sgt. Cameron Paul underwent some disciplinary action and Cpl. Kenneth Petruik was brought on as the acting commander for three months. In
September Cst. Steve Genereaux came out of retirement to hold the position until November when Cpl. Stephen Cunningham from St. Paul held the role until January 1. Cpl. Sawyer grew up in Niagara Falls but left when he joined the military in 1992, and has been with the RCMP for 12 years. “Alberta is the sixth province that I have lived/worked in, and Tofield is my sixth posting. I have been posted to Leduc, Thorsby, Breton, Wetaskiwin, and Fort McMurray. I have also been temporarily assigned to Chateh, Fort Chipewyan, and Kinngait in Nunavut. I came to Tofield from my position as an Operations NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) on D Watch in Fort McMurray,” he said. Cpl. Sawyer said he became
interested in police work when after two decades in the military he was set to have an office job. “I had completed 20 years in the military and was destined for a senior appointment desk at National Defence Headquarters (NDQH) in Ottawa. Having done numerous deployments and taskings, I was not ready to sit at a desk in Ottawa for the remainder,” he said. Now in Tofield, Cpl. Sawyer is working to secure an office space for the detachment due to the arson damage to the detachment building in December. Currently members are using the Town of Tofield council chambers. “I’ve been very impressed by the work that our members have been doing in the face of these unique circumstances that currently confront us. The
support and understanding from the community has been very helpful and is much appreciated by the members. We are working hard to regain our abilities to provide the service that the residents should have, and we are making progress every day,” Cpl. Sawyer said. Cpl. Sawyer told Tofield Town Council that hopefully they’ll have the trailer on site in the next few months. “We had a site visit with several contractors on Friday, Jan. 10, and the trailer will fit perfectly in there. We don’t have a cell block, so we’ll still be depending on Sherwood Park for that, but I’ve made a deal with the commander of Sherwood Park to help us out with criminal record checks, fingerprinting, prisoners, and all that
Cpl. Kenneth Sawyer is Tofield detachment’s newest acting commander. KARI JANZEN PHOTO stuff. They’re more than willing to help us out in the interim, because it’s going to be a several year process to get the new building. Hopefully the contract will be signed this week. Now that all the site stuff is done, ballpark would be two months from the time of signature,” he said.