- Organization: District of Sparwood
- Posted: March 13th, 2019
The mayor and council in the District of Sparwood, British Columbia, have announced the appointment of Michele Schalekamp as the Chief Administrative Officer.
Schalekamp, who has been the Acting CAO since September 2018, has been employed with the district since July 2015 as the Director of Finance. She took over for former CAO Terry Melcer, who announced her retirement last summer, on February 18, 2019.
Prior to her original position with the district, Schalekamp served as Director of Finance and Corporate Services for the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, from April 2014 until her move to Sparwood in July 2015.
Schalekamp completed her Bachelor of Commerce at the University of South Africa, majoring in accounting and auditing. She obtained her Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA) designation in 2015.
Writing on her LinkedIn page, Schalekamp describes herself as “an experienced and goal-oriented finance professional with a demonstrated track record of leading the preparation and analysis of financial reports to summary and forecast financial position.”
In addition, she includes having a “proven expertise in improving efficiency and productivity through evaluation of financial management systems and implementation of process improvements.”
Looking ahead to her goals in this new role, Schalekamp said she and her team will be working with council to implement their strategic vision for Sparwood over the next four years. That vision will focus on: economic diversity; updating of the downtown core; completion of a livability study and a parks and recreation master plan; and mitigation of the mining industry impact on the town.
