Gimli council appointed a new chief administrative officer in mid-December.
During a special meeting held on Dec. 15, a majority of council appointed DJ Sigmundson as CAO. He had been working as the strategic projects coordinator for the municipality.
Mayor Kevin Chudd, Deputy Mayor Kurt Reichert and Coun. Thora Palson voted in favour of appointing Sigmundson. Councillors Andy Damm and Richard Petrowski voted against appointing him.
Valorie Unrau of Way to Go Consulting was serving as the RM’s interim CAO after council had put in place acting or interim CAOs to manage the municipality after former CAO Trilby Stirling-Kattler resigned.
When asked why Unrau stepped down, RM spokesperson Christine Payne said council chose Sigmundson’s “proposal” over the one submitted from Way to Go Consulting (Unrau), and that “Valorie will be moving on to new challenges after six months of service.”
When asked if Unrau applied for the permanent CAO position, Payne said: “No formal application process occurred. Valorie submitted a proposal through Way To Go Consulting, which was not selected.”
Way to Go Consulting is a private company that was founded in 2011 by Ernie Epp and Dale Lyle. It provides senior management and financial services to municipalities, school divisions, associations and other organizations. Valorie Unrau joined the company in 2022 as a director, using her previous CAO experience to specialize in client services.
Payne said it was “unknown” how many CAO applications council received, but council “reviewed at least two proposals,” the one from Sigmundson and the other from Way to Go Consulting. The CAO position “was not posted publicly.”
There were no conflicts of interest “reported” regarding council’s decision, said Payne.
The RM of Gimli has had a number of changes at the senior management level. Assistant CAO Doreen Steg resigned in 2023, taking the director of finance job before quitting in November or December of 2024 and leaving the RM. Assistant CAO Kristin Strachan resigned in the summer of 2024 and left the RM. CAO Kelly Cosgrove resigned in the summer of 2024 and stepped into the assistant CAO job. CAO Jim Fenske assumed the interim CAO role in July 2024, but he resigned two months later and left the RM. DJ Sigmundson became interim CAO in September 2024 and served until Stirling-Kattler came on board. She quit after only three months on the job. She had been appointed in December 2024.
Sigmundson has a number of years of CAO experience. He previously served as CAO for the RM of St. Clements then as CAO for the RM of St. Andrews.
His new appointment with the RM of Gimli takes effect on Dec. 22, 2025.
The Express asked councillors Damm and Petrowski for comment.
